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I’ve been dyeing, entertaining, gardening . . blogging, not so much. Part of the routine this summer is going to the Lake City Farmer’s Market to get fabulous local and regional veggies, fruits, cheeses, and even meat and seafood.
A recent haul included radishes, bell peppers, tomatoes, yellow carrots, apricots, snap peas, arugula, rapini, chard, garlic, and the wonderful Seastack cheese by Mt. Townsend Creamery. The package of pork chops was thawing in the fridge, and the next night we enjoyed a completely regional dinner: Pork sauteed with raspberries and rosemary from the garden, salad with arugula, potatoes, and wine from the Columbia River appellation. The wine traveled the farthest, about 150 miles. It was all so good!
The tomato vendors often have a bin of “seconds” — tomatoes that are just on the edge of being overripe, or scarred in some way. Perfectly good, and cheaper! I got a couple of pounds of them, sliced them at the equator, then grated them into a bowl.
The skin remains behind, and all the good juicy pulp goes into the bowl, then is packaged into freezer boxes.
Summer in a box, ready to pull out and cook into sauce, soup, or whatever, this winter.
We had a lovely weekend attending the Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductions, along with the Locus Awards. This year’s class of Hall of Fame inductees is:
Frank R. Paul
Michael Whelan
Connie Willis
Ed Ferman
Frank R. Paul was the first illustrator to make a living painting rocket ships and such — his images were the heart of the science fiction magazine look in the 20s and 30s. His daughters and grandson were in town for the induction – a delightful family, with lots of stories going way back into the history of the field. Here is Greg with the daughters, Patricia Paul Franzke and Joan C. Paul Engle.
The Locus Awards banquet features a lot of hilarity with a Hawaiian shirt theme — here is Greg with John Kessel, who had just finished teaching a week at Clarion West, and Connie Willis, who MCed the Locus Awards, post-banquet.
Connie, being a woman of exquisite taste and social responsibility, changed out of her rocket launch polyester Hawaiian shirt before the Hall of Fame induction. Greg, making it into the trivia contest because of his Lilo and Stitch Hawaiian shirt, blew away the competition by 1) knowing most of the answers and 2) having incredibily fast hand-raising reflexes. The prize was an autographed banana. This year, to have a permanent memento, there were two bananas, one real, one plastic.
The wardrobe creativity extended beyond Hawaiian shirts — there was a Hawaiian print kilt that I didn’t get a picture of, and Erica accessorized with a a wonderful mutant purse she made.
Part poodle, part bear, part monkey.
Perfect weather for the events, and yes, we kept watching the skies.
The real banana bravely met its inevitable fate, with a few raspberries from the garden for garnish.
I saw this root at the grocery the other day — it’s fresh turmeric.
A pinkie sized root ended up costing about 19 cents, certainly a cheap price for a new taste treat. Peeled and eaten raw, it’s like a carrot in texture but with a much zingier taste. I chopped it fine and used it instead of dried turmeric in my favorite cauliflower recipe, Everyday Cauliflowerby Madhur Jaffrey.
This is a tangy party in your mouth, with ginger, cayenne, coriander, asafetida, green chilis — oh yeah, and cauliflower, too!
I had a Friends of UW Libraries meeting yesterday afternoon, and since Greg was out of town, decided to treat myself to dinner out afterwards at Serious Pie, Tom Douglas’ fabulous pizza joint. The tables there are mostly sturdy, tall, wooden rectangles that seat six, and the staff will put smaller parties together at these if they are busy, which is pretty much all the time. I was seated at one end of the table with two guys seated facing each other at the other end, and we cheerily said “Hi,” but they were deep in conversation about local bands — they seemed to be band managers, or promoters. Then another guy was seated opposite me, and we struck up a conversation — he works for Cruise West, so we talked about the cruise business, Antarctica, libraries, digitization of assets thereof, etc. Then a couple was seated in the middle seats, and the topics shifted to downtown living, downtown restaurants, movies, movie theaters, which pizza was that and how was it . . . the two guys on the end joined in for a while before they left, another couple was seated at that end, and so on. It was a delightful way to dine, and I heartily recommend it.
I had the fava beans, local radishes, and miner’s lettuce salad and the roasted chanterelles and truffle cheese pizza. Forgot my camera, so no pictures. The salad was delectable, peppery and spring-like. The pizza, as usual, is to swoon over: the wood fired crust, crispy with a hint of char, artfully selected and combined toppings, the whole refined yet rustic.
Oh, and not only are they open for lunch now, but have a great happy hour special of half-size pies for $5!
We are all about supporting libraries and literacy, and Greg has been a featured author at Literary Lions many times, which supports the King County Library System Foundation (KCLSF). They have just brought out a cookbook with recipes from a vast range of authors, authors friends, and authors spouses. My recipe for Chicken Mole Poblano slips in under Greg’s imprimature.
Feasting for a good cause
Should you wish to purchase a copy, it’s available here. Among other things, I’m eager to try Susan Wiggs’ Rosemary Olive Oil Cake and Nancy Leson’s Sri Lankan Beef Curry. And William Dietrich’s Boccone Dolce looks sublime.
Proceeds support KCLSF’s literacy and outreach programs, such as Summertime Reading, Books for Babies, and Study Zone. It also funds scholarships for librarians furthering their education. What’s not to like?
