Heading East for the Weekend

Well, before I tell about our weekend to Central and Eastern Washington, I wanted to show you a beautiful little pepper that came from our garden. I used it in a veggie and leftover roasted chicken stirfry with coconut basmati rice. YUM! Which brings me to a minor aside: the reason I am happy being a stay-at-home-mom (usually happy at least) is that I get so much pleasure from food and cooking. I can happily occupy myself the whole day long planning meals, shopping for food, cooking, of course, and researching food and health issues. Otherwise, I think I'd go nuts from boredom (or maybe just go get a job...)

And another aside: here is a rough recipe for a cabbage slaw I made yesterday. Both people who tried it wanted to know what was in it. I am infatuated with our friend the cabbage right now. Not terribly seasonal of me, I know. But here is the recipe:

Pink Thai Cabbage Slaw
1. Shred about 1/2 head of purple cabbage
2. Add salt and 1 - 2 cups of boiling water to the cabbage, stir and drain.
3. Add to drained cabbage: 1/4 cup coconut milk, juice of 1 lime, 2 tbsps tamari, 1 tbsp finely shredded ginger, 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic, 1 tbsp brown rice vinegar, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro.


Last weekend we took off for warmer climes over the mountains on the other side of the state. First stop was Odessa, Washington, where Uncle Mackenzie (Rob's brother) and Gunlis live. For a town of around 1000 in seemlingly the middle of nowhere, it actually has a lot going on. A great little park and pool, an espresso shop that sells beans roasted nearby, a brew pub, a shop that makes their own sausage, a very lively quilting shop. Mac and Gun picked a cool place, which is not surprising because they are very cool people, as you can see for yourself. Their sweet home is on the edge of town on a big chunk of land. They have lots of benches and outdoor seating so they can enjoy the big sky, the birds and the trains going by - Jasper especially loved those too. The slip Lucy is wearing down below was a gift from Gunlis who dyes vintage slips and sells the hither and yon.

Then we went from there back towards Seattle and spent the night at Megan and Keith's farm again. They fed us and sang to us and thrilled the kids with all their critters: dogs, a cat, chickens, goats, and now Fletchers - the bull calf who is only three weeks old. They sent us home with squash, a pumpkin and some lovely apples. Megan and I have lots in common - including a skirt, turns out, as you can see below. It was a nice getaway weekend with something for everyone. Now we're back in rainy and chilly Seattle - where is our summer?? At least we don't have to water the garden...