Nov 04

The Returns are Coming In

Washington has some quirks to its election system. First, we have a top-two primary. You can vote for anyone regardless of party affiliation. Two Democrats or two Republicans may face off in the general election. Then there are some races where someone from the fringes manages to make it out of the primary. Second, all voting is done by mail. People return their ballots via mail or at official drop boxes. The ballots need to be postmarked by Election Day to be counted. We won’t have the official results until later in the month; however, some results are clear from the first two batches of counted ballots. As examples:

The three candidates for the Bothell City Council who are not in the clutches of developers are all leading by wide margins. As the mayor is selected by the City Council from its ranks, the current mayor is probably not going to serve another term.

A perennial single-issue candidate is about 70 percentage points behind his opponent in a Port Commission race.

The city of Aberdeen, better known as the hometown of grunge rock idol Kurt Cobain, elected a 23-year-old as its mayor.

The town of Fircrest, the last dry town in Washington, overwhelmingly voted to allow restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages.

The Secretary of State’s office will release more vote totals daily until all of the votes are counted. Tight races at that point will go to recounts. Reversals of fortune in the above races are unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Stay tuned.

 

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/11/04/the-returns-are-coming-in/

Nov 01

End of the Season

I’m not talking about the World Series. The Yakima Fruit Market is wrapping up its season of selling fruits, vegetables, plants, pumpkins, and assorted groceries to Bothell residents. They’ll reopen after Thanksgiving, but just for Christmas trees and holiday greenery. Yesterday I went over to pick up a mess of produce, including the apples for the aforementioned applesauce. We’ll just have to content ourselves with supermarket produce until March 2, when Yakima reopens.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/11/01/end-of-the-season/

Nov 01

Beautiful Downtown Bothell

We moved to Bothell from Seattle almost three years ago. My first experience of our fair city was when I wrote grants for a now-defunct biotech start-up our first year in Washington. I fell in love with the quaint downtown and the Yakima Fruit Market. The latter reminds me of the fruit stands near my hometown in New York.

The Yakima Fruit Market

The Yakima Fruit Market

Bothell’s about 10 miles northeast of downtown Seattle as the crow flies. Unfortunately, we humans have to drive here via either Lake City/Bothell Way or Routes 520 and 405. Route 520 necessitates going over a toll bridge and 405 is consistently congested, so cheapskates clog up the other route. There are days when paving over Lake Washington seems like a good idea. However, the destination is worth the trip.

Downtown Bothell is bordered to the south by wetlands and the Sammamish River. Even though the Sammamish is technically a slough, it gets a lot of traffic from kayaks, canoes, and paddle-boarders.

Stand-up paddle boarders on the Sammamish, as viewed from our upper deck.

Stand-up paddle boarders on the Sammamish, as viewed from our upper deck.

A couple of parks and two bike/hike trails also abut the river. Two colleges occupy the eastern edge of downtown, the University of Washington Bothell campus and Cascadia College, part of the community college system. The biotech ghetto is in the northern part of town, along with a series of strip malls. Some of the stores have a distinctive East Indian flavor, courtesy of the large number of immigrants who call Bothell home. Also north of downtown is Country Village, a shopping center that features a large wrought-iron rooster sculpture in front. We consider it the most significant landmark in town. (Seattle has the Space Needle, Bothell has the chicken.)

While Bothell’s restaurant scene is under development, we do have several good to excellent eateries in town. Pen Thai is a branch of a Thai restaurant in Bellevue, and serves outstanding food. Earlier this year we discovered Korea House, in the northern part of town. They make their own kim chi, and their soup broths are umami bombs. The McMenamins Anderson School complex opened last month and added at least three restaurants to the downtown area. It also boasts an indoor salt-water pool that’s free for Bothell residents. The best thing about Bothell restaurants: On most Friday or Saturday nights you don’t need reservations. There are few good restaurants in Seattle that can make that claim.

Is our fair city perfect? No. Some decisions of the Planning Commission and City Council tilt too far in the direction of developers. For example, who decided that the best first impression of town coming from the west would be a hilltop self-storage place that looks like a Medieval Times fortress? The clincher was the brouhaha over the golf course near our condo complex. The owners wanted to sell and get the property rezoned to accommodate mass quantities of townhomes and houses. The only way we found out was a rezoning sign that mysteriously appeared one Friday night last December. The back nine of the course was almost sold to a development group that included the mayor, and he did not disclose his involvement in the deal until late in the game. While this didn’t meet the “legal” standard of conflict of interest, the impression was not good. Fortunately, the upcoming election may change city operations for the better. Two of the pro-development council members are not running, and the one member running for re-election has been helpful in the fight against developing the golf course. Stay tuned for election results.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/11/01/beautiful-downtown-bothell/

Oct 31

Oh, Applesauce!

It should not surprise my regular readers that I have strong opinions on anything. Applesauce is no exception. I’ve had relatives and friends who owned orchards in upstate New York. Two high school classmates now run the orchard in my hometown that had been in my mother’s family for many years.
Moving to the West Coast has brought challenges to my applesauce-making. My favorite applesauce apple, Rome Beauty, is rarely seen here at a reasonable price. Neither are other East Coast varieties such as Cortland, McIntosh, and Empire. I have made do with Jonagolds, Braeburns, or a mixture of whatever I have in the produce bin. The ubiquitous Red Delicious variety, even though it’s cheap and falls apart quickly upon cooking, has minimal flavor. It looks pretty in a fruit bowl, but that’s about it.
Below you’ll find my “recipe” (actually a gemisch) for applesauce. A few rules of thumb:

  • Buy cheap apples for applesauce. You don’t need $3 a pound apples for this purpose. You can often get a 3-pound bag of apples at the grocery store for much cheaper than buying them loose.
  • You don’t need pretty apples, either. They can be “scratch and dent” models. You’re only going to cook them down. No one will know that they weren’t perfect enough for export to Japan.
  • Don’t peel the apples. The peels add color to the final applesauce, especially deep red varieties like Rome Beauty. My grandmother would not agree with leaving the peels on, but my mother does.

For a decent amount of applesauce (2 to 21/2 quarts), buy about 8-10 good-sized apples and wash them. I cut them up using this handy device, which gives you 8 pieces and gets rid of the core at the same time.

This invention makes cooking a pot of applesauce much faster.

This invention makes cooking a pot of applesauce much faster.

Put the apple pieces into a large, wide-bottomed pot. Add a little water or (even better) apple cider or juice. Throw in a cinnamon stick and a handful of crystallized ginger. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes until the apple pieces fall apart. From time to time, stir up the apples so the pieces on top cook as well. If there’s a good bit of liquid left at this point, uncover the pot and let the liquid evaporate off. Remove the cinnamon stick and take the pot off the heat.

Once the apple pieces are cooked, get out that food mill that you bought for $1 at a yard sale and use the coarsest grater plate (the one with the largest holes). Place the food mill over a large bowl. Add the apple pieces, a little at a time, and grind away. Some of the peel will get ground into the sauce. It’s fiber, and a good thing. Keep grinding until everything has gone through the mill.

The food mill in action.

The food mill in action.

You’ll notice that I did not add any sugar to the apples before cooking other than what’s on the crystallized ginger. It’s not necessary. If the final product isn’t sweet enough for your taste, you have my permission to stir in a little honey or (better yet) real maple syrup.

The final product.

The final product.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/31/oh-applesauce/

Oct 31

Riding the Pineapple Express

We don’t get many thunderstorms or tornadoes hereabouts. In winter we’ll get an occasional snow or ice storm that paralyzes the region, due to our challenging topography and the lack of snow removal equipment. Our main weird weather phenomenon is the “Pineapple Express”, a warm front that comes off the Pacific Ocean and foments chaos due to high winds and torrential rains. University of Washington professor, weather blogger, and fellow Cornell alum Cliff Mass gave a blow-by-blow description of the storm on his blog today.

Pineapple Expresses are notorious for causing power outages, traffic jams, flash flooding, and heavy snows in the mountains. The National Park Service warned people not to visit Mount Rainier this weekend because of the risk of nasty weather. Thus far the main casualty here is the preponderance of fallen evergreen needles on the driveway and decks. We have a “river” (more aptly called a slough, because its flow is controlled by a dam on Lake Sammamish) in our backyard, but it’s well within its banks. I foresee a lot of trick-or-treaters wearing garbage bags over their costumes tonight. Happy Halloween, and stay dry!

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/31/riding-the-pineapple-express/

Oct 31

What a Waste

As I mentioned in an early post, Julian is an accomplished amateur photographer. His photos from our travels decorate our home. Earlier this week he needed to buy some new ink cartridges for his photo printer. The quote came back: over $500. He then asked, “How much would it be just to buy a new printer?” Not that much more. So he now has a new printer, and will try to sell the old one. While this may be a profitable business strategy for the company (rhymes with stepson), it is not particularly sustainable for the environment or its customers.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/31/what-a-waste/

Oct 26

More Rainy Day Haikus

It was raining rather hard today, and I had nothing better to do on the bus than to stretch my haiku chops.

Seattle Fashion Plate

Today I’m wearing

A stunning ensemble of

Cashmere and Gore-Tex.

Bravado

Bring an umbrella?

I don’t need an umbrella.

“Drowned rat” is my style.

Snug as a Bug

I was so comfy

Sleeping to the sound of rain

Then the alarm rang.

 

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/26/more-rainy-day-haikus/

Oct 25

Spiediefest

Every year we bring a little of our East Coast roots to our Seattle friends by hosting Spiediefest. Often it’s during the summer; however, this year we postponed it to October. In previous years it coincided with visits from current Easterners such as my sister, or former housemates from my days at Cornell.

For the non-cognoscenti, spiedies are grilled kebabs of marinated meat or chicken served in hot dog buns. You’re served the kebab in the bun. You then pull out the skewer by squeezing the bun around the meat.Spiedies are native to Upstate New York, specifically the Binghamton-Syracuse-Rochester triangle. They originated in Binghamton. The Syracuse connection was established when the Salamidas opened their spiedie stand at the New York State Fair. A Rochester-based restaurant chain, Chef Italia, popularized spiedies in that city and in Ithaca when I was an undergrad. (My freshman roommate worked for Chef Italia’s upscale sister, The Vineyard, in Rochester.) The chain is long since defunct, but spiedies remain popular.
Truth be known, you need not buy special overpriced marinades for spiedies. Make a good homemade olive oil vinaigrette and add plenty of fresh or dried herbs and garlic. The lamb vinaigrette usually contains fresh mint along with basil, oregano, and parsley. For beef or lamb spiedies, use red wine vinegar. Chicken spiedies are made with lemon juice and/or white vinegar as the acid, with basil, oregano, and parsley. I also threw in some thyme and rosemary to add a little extra flavor. Marinate beef or lamb overnight. Some recipes will call for doing the same for chicken, but we prefer no more than 4 hours to keep the texture of the chicken from going pasty.
When it comes time to cook spiedies, thread about 5 chunks of meat onto a skewer. (If you use wood or bamboo skewers, soak them in water for a couple of hours so they don’t burn.) Fire up the grill, and cook until they are done. I use a meat thermometer and pull beef or lamb off at ~140°; chicken spiedies are done when the temperature reads 165°. You can garnish your spiedie with chopped onion. Often we set aside some marinade for drizzling on the cooked sandwich. (DO NOT use any marinade that’s been in contact with raw meat for this purpose.)spiedies

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, several of our friends have food allergies or intolerances. We can work around them for Spiediefest. One of our gluten-phobes actually found rolls at Whole Foods that have the taste and texture of wheat rolls despite being gluten-free. We marinate chicken and lamb chunks in garlic-free vinaigrette for our friend who has issues with alliums. The vegetarians can have tofu and mushroom spiedies. I don’t marinate those in advance, but dab some uncontaminated marinade on them as they cook on the grill. As with our other festivities, the point is to share laughs and good food.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/25/spiediefest/

Oct 25

Date Night at Costco!

I’m sure many of you are thinking that Julian and I have been together for WAY too long if my idea of a hot date is grocery shopping. One can always put twists into any mundane activity. We had to get some provisions for home and for the annual Spiediefest the following night.
Our errands started at the Everest Kitchen. This is an Indian-Tibetan-Nepalese restaurant that recently moved to a new location in the Lake Forest Park Town Center. This is a welcome addition, since the only other ethnic restaurants in this shopping center that contains 90% of the businesses in town (not to mention the post office and municipal offices) are in the food court next to Third Place Books. Everest Kitchen also wisely chose a location right next to the Lake Forest Bar and Grill, to snap up people who didn’t want to wait for a table.
After a meal of goat curry and mango chicken, it was off to Costco. We were in need of paper products, cereal, raspberries, and contact lens juice. We also got the leg of lamb for spiedies there. The sample folks were mostly hawking items that we would never buy, such as vitamin-infused bottled water. Even at Costco, this product is expensive and unnecessary. Just go to the vitamin section, buy a bottle of multivitamins, and wash one down every day with tap water. Save your money for the important stuff, kids, like ramen noodles.
Our final stop was Central Market in Shoreline. This is our go-to grocery unless Wegmans decides to establish a beach head in the Northwest. (Danny Wegman: Are you listening? We didn’t know how good we had it when we lived in Ithaca.) We got the chicken, beer, wine, and assorted other provisions for the week at Central Market. After a couple of healthy charges to our credit card, we headed home to get ready for Spiediefest.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/25/date-night-at-costco/

Oct 22

The Ham Rant

A ham steak can be a quick and easy weeknight dinner for us. We often make baked or mashed yams alongside the ham. Unfortunately, these days supermarket ham steaks are pumped full of water. This results in a soggy mess in the frying pan that prevents the ham from browning. The worst part of it is that we paid good money for all that water.

A couple of nights ago I made a ham steak with an apple-onion pan sauce. The recipe called for browning the steak before sautéing the onion. Once the ham hit the pan, it was if I’d wrung out a giant sponge. I must have poured off a good 1/4 cup of fluid out of the frying pan. And the fluid kept coming out. The ham eventually browned, but it took several minutes longer than it should have.

The next time this happens, I will contact the company that packaged the ham and raise some cain. I suggest other consumers follow suit. We don’t need to be paying ham prices for water.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/22/the-ham-rant/

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