End of May

Cold. Two wool shirts, a light fleece and a rainjacket. I was thinking I wanted a scarf or a hat, my friend put on gloves. In 7 hours we saw one show (The Bad Things at the Vera Project - enjoyed it) and wandered the merchant/food booths as well as met and re-met people. Finally, make a go for a belly-dancing showcase when I am drawn into a booth by bright colors and pictures of animals (jillmayberg.com) by the time I leave with some cards and a small clock, my companions are long gone. No matter, I head over to find the Pete Seeger Sing-a-long. After trying to read a bouncing page next to me, I ask someone where I can get a copy of the lyrics, they direct me to the other side, where I am directed back to where I started, but luckily find someone leaving.

I walk past 3 young men in a confrontation next to an idling cab, and duck into the tunnel entrance. I have a ten minute wait and start writing. On the bus, next stop, two punks with instruments get on, end up standing on either side of me. One of them reminds me of a friend I had 19 or so years ago. Too young, different colored eyes, beautiful. I feel feverish and start unzipping both of my jackets, thankfully, the window above me is open. The old woman across from me opens her eyes, slowing looks from one to the other, then back to the first, to the other and finally makes some space on the seat and taps the arm of one and offers the seat. He declines, eventually the other one takes it. At a stop a boy on crutches doesn't get out the door fast enough. When we ask for the door, the driver says he already opened it once and he's not going to open it again. I shout that the boy is on crutches, I don't know if he hears me, but he opens the door. Later, after I get off, I see him get up to tell the boy lying on the back seat to get up. I guess he's had a bad day. (and I can't stay connected to the internet.)

French Toast and Food Banks

Woke up with an amazing craving for french toast, which is remarkable mostly for the fact that I've never particularly liked french toast, nor do I think I've ever made it. So....had to look up the general proportions in the Joy of Cooking, scale it down to just me and went to it. I have doctor bills coming out my ears, and even with help from my parents, have begun to frequent the local food bank once a week. Last week, received a dozen smallish eggs and some bread I wanted at the time, but threw into the freezer because I haven't been into it. So bread and eggs and a splash of milk, some ground cloves, cinnamon, and vanilla, went into the pan. It was pretty good if I do say so myself. Ate four slices, fed a tiny amount of leftovers to the usual crows that stop by in the morning looking for a snack. Also received a large bag of tiny oranges which I didn't think I'd get through, but have managed to eat about 2/3's of the bag by this point. And a pound or two of grape tomatoes, I think I will dry them in the oven. A couple weeks ago received a bag of kasha for "free" because people weren't taking it. Haven't found anything interesting to do with it yet, should probably just boil some up and see how it tastes and go from there. It's my goal to learn how to cook everything I can, and make it taste good.

I also have a p-patch garden which must have 1000 leeks in it. I don't believe I ever planted them, but had let some go to seed because the bees are attracted to the flower heads and bees in a garden are a good thing. Anyway, gave some away to an old roommate that happened to be walking by when I was working in the garden and have made an amazingly good wild mushroom/leek risotto a couple of times now (I start with the thinly sliced leeks in the fat/oil, then add the rice, some salt, and begin with the broth, after a couple rounds of broth, add a splash of white wine, add the mushrooms chopped, some red pepper flakes, thyme, salt, more broth, including some of the mushroom soaking liquid, and add grated, hard cheese at the end. I use 1/2 broth 1/2 water, probably 6 cups altogether for 1 cup of rice. Probably 2-2 1/2 cups of leeks.) Also, remembered some red rice I'd bought for Christmas dinner that we hadn't ended up using, and so cooked that with 1/2 broth and 1/2 water, sauteing the leeks before adding the rice, tossing in a pinch of salt, and then when it was done, throwing in some of the chopped tiny oranges. Someone sent me a couple of ideas on facebook, but I seem to not be able to eat potatoes anymore, makes my arthritis act up, so the old standby of potato-leek soup is off the table. Too bad, always did love potatoes. Will probably donate about 1/2 the leeks to the food bank in the near future, I saw a woman last week quickly grab up the only leek in the produce box, and saw an almost $3 price tag for two (albeit, large) leeks at Trader Joe's, a not particularly expensive grocery store, so hopefully, people will want them. (They are not the prettiest leeks, but they taste fine.)

Peace, Isabel

Favorite Songs

I've been trying to figure out what my favorite songs are, considering maybe, top 20. Only the top 3 are in any particular order, by that I mean they are my top 3 favorite songs, probably tied amongst themselves.

1-3) O Holy Night - Placide Cappeau (and later translated from French to the currently sung version by John Sullivan Dwight) I love this for the following lines:
Truly He taught us To love one another;
His law is love And His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break For the slave is our brother;
And in His name All oppression shall cease.

Change Gonna Come-Sam Cooke (give me chills every time I hear it.)

Redemption Song - Bob Marley (very close second is the duet version by Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer)

To me all three are songs about hope, and that's what the writers had when they wrote, there have been many changes since they were written, but we have yet to arrive, sometimes if you listen to the news, you could believe we've gone backwards (war, slavery, suffering, bombing), but then they are stories of the strength of the human spirit and of the love and selflessness that also exists (Haiti.) There is so much work to do, but we are the ones for the task.

waiting for a computer to get fixed

Well, I didn't quite make the Advent Calendar thing work this past holiday season, will try again next year. Been having technical difficulties. Received a computer as a gift on Christmas and as of today, Feb. 5, 2010, still can't get it to work, but finally got permission this week to send it back to the company (HP) to have it looked at. Got the box yesterday, but will have to wait until Monday to ship, as FedEx doesn't pick up on weekends. I hope it can be fixed. It never did work (crashed every couple of minutes to a dreaded blue screen with an ever changing variety of "notices.") The phone tech (4th or 6th or something) told me to take off the back and switch the chips, then it didn't work at all...felt like I had to do what she said in order to get permission to ship back to HP...now I only hope it's still covered by the warranty...yikes!

December 11 and the Holiday Party

Behind the window for today was going to be a chocolate croissant, however, the bakery was curiously closed, so instead it is a Norwegian cookie called "Fattigmann" that a co-worker in another department had leftover from their party. These are a basic cookie dough scented with a bit of ground cardamom (here it is again), cut into diamonds, or folded into a bow-shape and then fried in oil or lard. They are probably best eaten within a day or two.
The local Scandinavian bakery, Larson's has them, listed under holiday items http://www.larsensbakery.com/index.php and here is one recipe http://www.cookierecipesonline.com/fattigmann.htm

I believe these are a traditional Christmas cookie.

December 6

Sunday afternoon, and though it's sunny and quite cold (hovering around freezing) behind the window for December 6, 2009 is a: Frappe, which is a frothy iced Nescafe w/milk, and a little sugar, from the Continental Restaurant and Pastry Shop in Seattle's University District. Address is: 4549 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105(206) 632-4700. They are open Mon-Fri 7 am-10 pm, Sat/Sun 8am-10 pm.



I've been coming here since 1987 when I first moved to the area. They serve my all-time favorite soup in Seattle, the lentil, called "Faki." Back when we were broke (kinda' like now) my sister and I used to treat ourselves to a cup of faki each and split an order of the Greek fries, which are sprinkled with salt and dried oregano, still my favorite thing on the menu. They also have a small mercantile where they sell wine and olive oil soap among other items, as well as a pastry case. I believe that on most nights there is also one of a rotating lists of language groups that meet over drinks and pastries to converse in the language of the evening.

Here is a link to their menu, though I could not find a website for the restaurant: http://www.allmenus.com/wa/seattle/20084-the-continental/menu/

December 5, 2009

And behind the Advent Calendar Window for December 5, 2009 we find...a cream puff from beard papa's fresh and natural cream puffs (http://www.muginohousa.com/index.php). There is a choice between green tea, chocolate or vanilla filling for the puffs, I was feeling basic and had the vanilla, though I'll probably try the green tea at some future point.

They fill the cream puffs to order. The store I went to was at the Uwajimaya shopping center in the Seattle's International District. It's near the terminal southern stop of the bus tunnel, and so on the light rail run as well.

December 4, 2009

I guess Mother Nature missed the weather memo, hee hee: It's pouring down rain outside. All the weather forecasts were for fog, lifting to a sunny afternoon, no chance of rain for probably a week. Oddly it's only really showing on the radar in a very small band covering Seattle, and west to the Olympic Peninsula. Not cold enough for snow, though.

On a more serious and sadder note, Amanda Knox was convicted of all accounts in the murder trial of her roommate Meredith Kercher in Italy. I don't know whether or not she is guilty, but I don't think she should've been convicted by the evidence (knife didn't match the wounds -and of course fingerprints would be on a knife if you ever did any cooking- and footprint didn't match the shoe) and the grandstanding of the DA. While I'm sorry that Meredith Kercher was murdered, accusing the nearest person/s doesn't necessarily get you anywhere closer to the truth or closure. Best of luck on the appeal. Sorry for the downer.

Behind today's Advent Calendar window is a chocolate dipped cardamon ice cream bar from the Whidbey Island Ice Cream Co. You can find them at the Ballard Farmer's Market from 10-3 pm every Sunday, as well as various locations on Whidbey Island. In addition to a variety of ice cream bars (see menu here, which isn't complete, http://www.whidbeyislandicecream.com/Flavors.html) they also sell pints. I believe the bars are $3.00 and the pints $5 or $6. I was vacillating between the cardamom and a wine bar, but had recently tasted pullah, a cardamom-laced Finnish sweet bread, and have been craving cardamom ever since. I ate the same flavor two weeks in a row. Sometimes you just want what you want, like always ordering the same thing at a restaurant, because the reason you go there is for one particular dish. I always eat the vindaloo at my favorite restaurant, so many dishes untried until the next time when I consider the menu, vacillate, and order...the vindaloo.

December 3, 2009

Another chilly morning! Ran out late to get to a meeting at work. Stopped by the Agua Verde Cafe and Paddle Club http://www.aguaverde.com/cafe.shtml to grab a breakfast burrito ($4.00,
vegetarian x 2, carne de res or chipotle) and today's Advent Calendar treat: Champurrado. It's basically chocolate, cinnamon, milk and masa corn. Falls somewhere between a beverage and a pudding, though you can drink it out of a cup. $1.25 for 8 oz, 1.75/12 oz, 2.25/16 oz. The masa corn gives it a bit of texture, in a good way, the chocolate was light in flavor, although the man at the counter said it's a little different everyday.

December 2, 2009

Just wanted to add the disclaimer, that I might write about other events happening in the area in addition to the Advent Calendar, and there is no connection between my opinion or view of events, or even with the events themselves, and the treat behind the window in the Advent Calendar.

Today I was downtown and stopped by Monorail Espresso, as a side note, I think this might have been Seattle's first coffee cart, now a store front. The cookie is called the Chubby, basically, it's a golf ball of a chocolate chip cookie and mighty good. It'll set you back $1.75. Monorail Espresso is at 520 Pike Street, Seattle, WA.


I don't have a picture yet, but will post eventually. Cakespy's photostream at flickr has one, also she had a review on her blog.