Category: Life in the Pacific Northwest

The New Espresso Machine Begets

I am a mere mortal tea drinker. The obsessive-compulsive machinations Julian goes through to make his drug of choice are beyond my comprehension. So when the espresso machine he bought when we moved to Seattle (after the movers trashed his old one) was on its last pump, this set off a cascade of purchases. First: …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/12/28/the-new-espresso-machine-begets/

The Pineapple Express Aftermath

The Seattle area has had record rainfalls in the last week, courtesy of a climate phenomenon known here as the Pineapple Express. This weather system originates near Hawaii and barrels to the Pacific Northwest. Sometimes the rain is accompanied by high winds. This visit of the Pineapple Express was just rain, rain, and more rain. …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/12/22/the-pineapple-express-aftermath/

Cosmic Crisp Critique

The big buzz in the apple world these days is the Cosmic Crisp, a variety developed by Washington State University. This is its debut season in grocery stores. It’s a daughter to the ubiquitous Honeycrisp variety. We were shopping yesterday when we saw a display of Cosmic Crisps. Julian said, “Why don’t you try one and …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/12/22/cosmic-crisp-critique/

Eagles on the Beach

I’m always amazed at the diversity of avian life at Casa Sammamish. This afternoon I saw one of our neighborhood bald eagles on the sand bar across the river looking for lunch. Needless to say, the ducks kept their distance while said eagle was hanging out.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/12/18/eagles-on-the-beach/

Another Loss

Friday morning we got the news that our former next door neighbor’s mother had died, two months shy of her 97th birthday. She’d been transitioned to hospice care earlier in the week. The cause of death was heart and respiratory failure. I took over half a batch of Miami onion rolls for condolence food. Next …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/12/17/another-loss/

Bubba Shark

I came down to breakfast the other day to find this on the couch. Julian’s comment: “It wanted to watch Shark Week.” Or it was trolling for Baby Shark videos.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/12/14/bubba-shark/

Souper Slam!

Our friend Michael wanted to celebrate his birthday. He chose a potluck with a twist: A soup competition. The crew came ready to rumble with a variety of options. Michael made two varieties of vegetarian hot and sour soup; one spicy, one suitable for chile wimps. Chicken tortilla, Cuban black bean, African peanut, and sunchoke/cauliflower …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/11/16/souper-slam/

Light in the Dark Season

Seattle is in the midst of what the weather geeks call the Dark Season. Rain is forecast for the foreseeable future. My pepper and petunia plants are waterlogged and should be disposed of if it ever stops raining long enough for me to do so without soaking the floors. Still there is light. The leaves are …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/10/19/light-in-the-dark-season/

Lightning

Seattle doesn’t get much violent weather. Tornadoes are rare and hurricanes are non-existent. Tonight we’re getting a hellacious thunderstorm. The University of Washington football game is on weather delay due to the storm. To add insult to injury, the power’s out at the stadium. We’re currently getting the storm here. With luck, we won’t have …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/09/07/lightning/

A Night at Book Larder

Every large city needs a decent cookbook store. New York has Kitchen Arts and Letters and Bonnie Slotnick Books (both extolled in this post). Portland has Powell’s Books for Home and Garden on Hawthorne Street. Vancouver had Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks, now of blessed memory (see last paragraph of this post). Seattle has the Book …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/08/25/a-night-at-book-larder/

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