Oct 11

Soupy Weather

The fall onslaught of rain has begun here. We’re supposed to have back to back to back storms that are predicted to dump an inch of rain each. This afternoon’s storm had thunder, lightning, and hail. These are not usually part of fall rain in the Seattle area.

When the weather turns soupy, my thoughts turn to making soup. Last night’s soup was my reliable hot and sour Cambodian fish soup. Julian actually suggested making it. The recipe calls for catfish, but I refuse to pay $14 a pound for what upstate New Yorkers call bullheads. Rockfish is half the price and works just fine in this recipe.

Tomorrow I may make lentil soup and serve it with the rye bread I made today with Yeast Mode.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/10/11/soupy-weather/

Oct 04

A Hairy Situation

What’s up with all of the beards I’ve seen during the pandemic? Have razors become the latest shortage? Politicians like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, although Paul subsequently got rid of his. (One unruly mop of hair on his head was probably enough.) Football players. Apple Store employees.

The preponderance of facial hair can make it difficult to fit a mask properly. When we were at the Apple Store last week, about half of the male employees had bushy beards that pushed out their masks. This should be concerning, especially in areas where social distancing may not be feasible.

A friend of mine is a pediatrician who’s had a beard for 40 years. He recently downsized to a goatee to make sure his face masks would fit snugly when he saw patients and their parents. A word from a wise man.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/10/04/a-hairy-situation/

Sep 27

Requiem for Summer

Autumn arrived with a deluge right on the equinox. It rained most of the week. The Sun finally peeked out late on Friday. The plants on the upper deck are waterlogged. I think I’ve harvested the last padron peppers of the season. The tomatillo and golden berry plants did nothing. I should probably finish off the basil with one last batch of pesto. The only herbs showing much are the parsley and Vietnamese coriander.
As many teams and farmers have said, wait’ll next year.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/09/27/requiem-for-summer/

Sep 24

Hard Times for Optimists

It’s getting harder and harder to look on the bright side of life these days. As I type, the death toll due to Covid-19 in the US has surpassed 200,000. The Federal Government can’t get its act together to put out science-based guidelines for states to follow, let alone approve aid for those who need it most. Many small businesses have given up, including my hair salon and dry cleaner. Here in the Northwest, wildfires are causing mass evacuations and hazardous air quality.

Last Friday was a rough one. I was finishing up work when my cell phone pinged with the news of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death from pancreatic cancer. The knowledge that this president would try to put another Justice on the Supreme Court in the midst of an election campaign was frightening. Julian was close to tears. My first comment was, “And Canada won’t let us in.” Our response was to stay glued to the television news, similar to what we did on September 11, 2001. I picked up our usual Friday night takeout. (In an eerie parallel to our 9/11 dinner, I went to a fish restaurant.) Julian uncorked a bottle of white wine and declared, “This won’t last the night.” It didn’t.

In the words of the late John Lewis, who also succumbed to pancreatic cancer, it’s time to get into some “good trouble.” Work for candidates who will uphold the legacy of Justice Ginsburg. Contribute money to these candidates. Vote, and encourage your friends and family to do so. Take advantage of early voting. We need to get our optimism about our country back.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/09/24/hard-times-for-optimists/

Sep 19

Adaptation

Arts organizations have had a rough time during this pandemic. Our spring Seattle Symphony concerts were canceled. We signed up for this season’s concerts back in March, before we knew that Covid-19 would hang around in the fall. Our first concert is tonight, but we won’t be going to Benaroya Hall for it. We will watch a live stream at home. The upsides: No line for the restrooms during intermission, and better coffee for Julian.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/09/19/adaptation/

Sep 15

An Oldie but Goodie

Back in the 1980s I bought several booklets from Garden Way Publishing, now a part of Workman Press. Garden Way specialized in increasing self-sufficiency. Not only did it publish cookbooks and booklets, but it published gardening and animal husbandry titles as well. Now that Yeast Mode has a prominent place on my counter, I’ve utilized the sourdough booklet extensively. I’ve made bread, cake, cobbler, and pancake recipes out of it. A fine return on an investment of $1.95.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/09/15/an-oldie-but-goodie/

Sep 12

Bummer Summer

This has been the summer of our discontent here in the Northwest. The pandemic threw any vacation plans into the dumpster. Now we have wildfires up and down the West Coast. The nearest fire to us is in Enumclaw, in southern King County; however, easterly winds are carrying smoke from the other side of the Cascade Mountains here. The view from our living room looks like a dreary December day without the rain. Air quality is very unhealthy. The poor air quality may increase susceptibility to Covid-19, to make matters worse. The only upside is that the heavy smoke cover has kept outdoor temperatures cool, so folks without air conditioning can keep windows shut without suffocating heat.

Stay cool and safe.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/09/12/bummer-summer/

Sep 07

Kitchen Pyrotechnics

Why is it that men seize on massive firepower to do tasks that more moderate temperatures can do just as well? Is it the need for speed, or just a love of gadgetry?

Example du jour: Julian bought an item called a Searzall. This is a flame diffuser that attaches to a home propane blowtorch. According to the videos, one can sear steaks and fish, roast peppers, and caramelize crème brûlée. He had to go to the hardware store to get a blowtorch and propane tanks so he could try it out.

I have serious concerns about the use of powerful blowtorches in the kitchen, and ours in particular. It’s a glorified galley with way too much wood. It’s one thing to use one of these suckers in a commercial kitchen, quite another in a condo. In addition, I did a week’s rotation in the Parkland Memorial Hospital Burn Unit many years ago. One doesn’t leave that setting without a deep respect for fire and what it can do to the human body.

Julian assembled the blowtorch-Searzall. The instructions called for breaking in the apparatus by running it for exactly two minutes to oxidize the palladium diffuser screens. I made him do it in the driveway well away from our wood-frame abode. (Our neighbors were no doubt relieved.)

The first test of the Searzall followed shortly thereafter. I needed to roast and peel some Hatch chiles. Julian set a chile on a baking rack over a cookie sheet on the kitchen counter and turned on the burn. It was slow going. After several minutes of blasting when only a few charred skin bubbles on the chile had appeared, I asked, “Should I start the gas grill?” He nodded.

The Searzall may be fine for crème brûlée or other small tasks that don’t take much time, but I wouldn’t trust it to do bulk items like a mess of chiles or several steaks that had been cooked in the sous vide.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/09/07/kitchen-pyrotechnics/

Sep 01

Simple Questions

I’ve been on a slow burn all year between the unjustified murders of Black people and the inadequate response by all levels of government to these murders. The shooting of three people at a protest rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin by a teenaged vigilante finally sent me over the edge. Here are a few simple questions that require answers. I’m not holding my breath that I’ll ever hear them.

  • What the hell was a 17-year-old kid doing with an AR-15 rifle that he wasn’t old enough to purchase?
  • Who purchased this rifle and the ammunition for him?
  • Why did this kid believe that he should cross the state line from his home and play cop with a deadly weapon?
  • Where were the responsible adults in this boy’s life who could have talked him out of going to Kenosha?
  • When will these shootings end?

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/09/01/simple-questions/

Aug 23

Flinging Flour

Yeast Mode earned its keep this week. (And a good thing, since I feel as if I’m buying five-pound bags of flour every time we go grocery shopping.) Thursday I made a batch of blueberry muffins with it. Julian was happy, especially since we have plenty more in the freezer.

Friday night I started a batch of bagels with the starter. I adapted a recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible. Instead of making a predough from scratch, Yeast Mode did the honors. The resulting batch was very chewy, suitable for teething tots or testing the tenacity of dental implants. I think we’ve gotten used to the poofy bagels sold in grocery stores hereabouts.

Saturday Julian decided to make mussels for the first time in over a year. As we were walking out of the grocery store, he said, “We forgot to get some crusty bread to go with the mussels. Although you could always make some…” Yes, I could. I found a recipe for Cuban bread from my well-worn copy of The New York Times Cookbook. The beauty of this recipe is that it’s fast. You go from flour to bread in about two hours. I added a little of Yeast Mode to the dough for flavor rather than leavening. The interior was quite fine-textured, with a sturdy crust – perfect for sopping up the mussel liquid.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/08/23/flinging-flour/

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