Northwest Event Sources: Sailboats, Lavender, U-Pick Farms, and Lots More!

Summer, summer, summer!  As much as the heat makes me want to just laze around in the grass at any old park- it also makes me want to do do do as much as possible.  It's light out later, swim suits double as undies half the time, and dinner is often just an assortment of nibbles and a big glass of lemon water.  Fine by me!

Sequim Lavender Festival from cmmgrove

- The 14th Annual Sequim Lavender Festival is coming up quickly (July 16-18), and looks to be a fantastic weekend.  Farm tours, U-pick lavender fields, tons of lavender infused edibles, and a market full of lavender focused goods.  Um, YEAH.  I'm in.

- Sail Sand Point still has upcoming adult classes throughout July and August.  I did a two-week course years ago in boats this size and it was a ridiculous amount of fun.  I won't be able to partake this summer, but it's definitely something that I'm considering in the future.  If you're interested in learning how to sail a larger boat- my friend Ben Hackett runs Allied Sailing here in Seattle and does amazing day trips to a lot of nearby islands- with the choice of just relaxing and enjoying the trip- or getting down and dirty and learning how to work the boat.

- PickYourOwn.org is still the best resource I've found for locating U-Pick farms.  My link goes straight to Washington, but the site lists farms all over the US.  I've found great farms year-round, and am hoping to do some berry picking sometime very soon.

- Portland Pietopia is August 5th at the Buckman Farmers Market!

-  August 22nd is An Incredible Feast which I am missing again this year!  I was in Alaska last year, and will be camping this year.  It's such a wonderful event and if you're near Seattle and love your farmers market it's definitely worth the splurge.

"With farmland continuing to disappear across the nation (due to development and urban sprawl), it is more vital than ever to support and protect our local farmers, farmland, and the markets where small family farms earn the full dollar value of their products.  Our health, our environment, our local economies cannot thrive without healthy, sustainable systems of food and agriculture."



What are your plans for the rest of the summer? 

Feel Better

I have a confession to make.

My serious lack of blogging has had very little to do with being busy, and mostly to do with being in a terrible funk.

It drives me crazy to admit that it was mostly work related- but that's the flat-out truth.  Someone made a really nasty comment to me nearly a month ago- and instead of just blowing it off and moving on- I hung on to it, and my resentment towards that person and that comment turned into resentment towards my job.  Spending 40+ hours a week in an environment that made me feel completely miserable was an awful way to spend an entire month.  In turn I started to feel overwhelmed and frustrated over my home and social life, and even planning anything fun felt like an awful chore to me.  I kept trying to shake it, but I wasn't allowing myself to just stop feeling crappy.  I'm sure that our gloomy June and trying to function in a still half-packed apartment didn't make things much better- but normally those things alone don't feel so overwhelming.

This weekend seemed to have just knocked all of the grumpiness right out of me.  I got my ass completely kicked carrying an overloaded bag.  I'm sunburnt and my feet are blistered.  I came home with hair full of sand and salt water and bonfire smell.  I didn't think about work, or our messy apartment, or care about the weather.  Our one rainy morning just added a perfect spookiness to being on the ocean.  We ate sandy food, and slept in sandy tents, and my last pair of contacts seemed to glue themselves to my eyeballs.  We drank creek water and ate food that hadn't been properly chilled and never got sick.  I didn't get drunk or watch fireworks for the first July 4th in years.  And it was wonderful. 

I always seem to want to hole up when I feel bad.  I forget that going outside and allowing myself to completely check out is often the only thing that can really help.

Matt & Renai Shi Shi 2010 by Nick Katarow

Kimya Dawson at Ballard Mine

The Ballard Mine is a really wonderful space that I discovered this past winter, when my friend Brittany tweeted that her boyfriend's band was playing there.  I, living in Ballard, and never having heard of this place (I also hadn't seen Brittany in something like 8 years!) was intrigued.  As it turns out- the space is less than a block from my apartment, and puts on a lot of really great shows.  It's an incredibly positive and welcoming space, that focuses on sharing skills and sharing music.

Earlier this week the adorably famous Kimya Dawson played.  Amy and I squished criss-cross-applesauce onto the floor right smack in front of her and grinned like silly fools through most of her set.  Her songs are almost always cute and a little silly- and quite often completely heartbreaking.  I wish that I could have recorded her entire set, and while my camera couldn't quite handle that- I did get her new "rap" on camera.  Enjoy!

Terrible!

Enjoy this picture that has nothing to do with anything!  I haven't abandoned you, I promise!  Life has been busy busy busy lately and sometimes that just gets in the way of blogging!  I am working on a post to share the recipes that I used to cater a wonderful casual lunch this past weekend, and gearing up to go on a million adventures (or four).  We are moving into a different apartment this weekend, and school just ended last week.  Busy, like I said!  I am going to try to get back on a regular blogging schedule once we're settled into the new place a little more- and I promise I'm not going anywhere!

Wild Fennel & Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Wild fennel is coming up like crazy all over Seattle right now.  There just so happens to be a gigantic bush on very public property growing less than a block from our apartment.  We've been adding it to salads and scrambles here and there, but last weekend I decided that I wanted to do something a bit different with it.  So, last night I did!

This is a very, very basic recipe that makes for a much lighter ice cream.  Most call for cooking egg yolks into a custard, or using three to four different types of cream, which I don't keep on hand.  This recipe simply uses milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, and fennel.  Subtract the fennel and it is a good base for whatever flavors you'd like to add.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole or 2% milk
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup organic sugar
- 4 six-inch stalks of wild fennel, coarsley chopped (grocery store variety fennel can be used as well- use the tops and fronds rather than the bulb)
- 1 tbsp dried fennel seeds
- 1 vanilla bean, or 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:
- Gently heat milk, cream, and sugar over medium heat until sugar is melted and mixture is hot but not boiling.
- Turn heat to low.  Add both fresh and dried fennel, as well as vanilla bean (scrape out the insides, and add whole bean as well).
- Simmer for 15-20 minutes, carefully tasting until mixture has reached desired taste.
- Stain mixture into a bowl, pressing the liquid out of the fennel, and refrigerate until cool.
- If using an ice cream maker- pour liquid into base, and run machine until ice cream is desired consistency.  I store mine in a yogurt container in the freezer.
- If you aren't using an ice cream maker- freeze mixture into a container first, then once frozen put through a food processor or blender in batches until smooth, and re-freeze.

Wild fennel is a weed, and grows well all over the place.  It's easy to find in Seattle neighborhoods, and I'm sure in many other areas as well.  If you aren't sure of a source that's okay to pick - ask around.  I don't mind sharing my location either, if you want to send me an email (renai.marie(at)gmail(dot)com). It's easy to identify- as it has tall feathery stalks, and smells just like licorice when broken.  Make sure to carefully wash any that you find, and try to avoid picking along roadways, and never out of someones yard or garden.

 Wild Fennel from Sandy Austin

Necessity

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit” -Edward Abbey

Pacific Ocean, Shi-Shi Beach Trail from grilledsteeze

Despite the fact that July 4th weekend is still nearly a month away- I am RIDICULOUSLY excited about newly developed plans.

It all has to do with this crazy amazing place.


Aside from that, there is also a bike camping trip, winery camping trip, and other assorted camping trips planned for the summer already.  I love Seattle- but sometimes I love not being in Seattle even more. 

A Little Weekend Dining

I don't post about food as much as I'd like to- but our regular weekly meals don't seem that exciting since I'm so used to them!  We've made a weekly ritual out of picking up eggs, bacon, and veggies at the Ballard farmers market every Sunday morning and making an absolutely ridiculous brunch.  That definitely happened today.  I also made a few other things that I felt were kind of special.

On Friday night before heading out to the Fremont Art Walk I whipped together this little creation.  And you'll have to excuse my sloppy poached eggs.  I am not the most gentle of egg poachers.  This is beer braised kale with garlic scrapes and spring onions, topped with teenie tiny poached quail eggs.  Yes, quail.  Their yolk to white ratio is fantastic.

This beautiful creation was breakfast on Saturday morning.  Yes, we had cake for breakfast.  We also ate half of it in one sitting.  I am not ashamed.  The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and I've made it twice now.  This time I used plain yogurt in place of the buttermilk, and 1/3 cup whole wheat flour.  It was still light and perfectly moist.  I am really, really in love with this cake.  Really.

Ughhhh look at that.  I want to eat it again.  It's full of beautiful little raspberry craters and lemon zest.  We are made for each other.

Our Shelter Cats

I just realized that I've never posted any pictures of Ollie, aside from the day we adopted her.  She has settled in so well.  She was really unhealthy and scared when we got her, and she has done a complete 180 in the past few months.

I honestly can't say enough good things about adopting adult cats.  Luna was a year and a half when we got her (now two), and Ollie is just over four.  We don't know much of Luna's history other than she was picked up as a stray- but she seems to have been well socialized.  She had only been at the shelter for two weeks when we adopted her in October.  Ollie's story isn't quite as lovely, but it makes me feel so good that we took her home.  She was found in the woods near a local hiking area (meaning she was dumped) and had been at the shelter for nearly seven months when we adopted her.  She didn't know how to play, had signs of bad previous mite and flea infestations, hated to be touched on her backside, and was very nervous and mean.  We've only had her since February, but her personality is so wonderful already.  She is playful, affectionate, goofy, vocal, and bossy, just like a healthy happy cat should be.

I know that it's tempting to adopt kittens or get free animals on Craigslist- but if you are thinking about adopting- please, please, please check out a local shelter first.  Shelter animals come with all of their vaccinations and are spayed or neutered before going home.  "Free" animals don't come with any of these guarantees and often end up costing much more in the long run.  We did have to be patient and understanding with both of our cats- but with lots of love they are both absolute joys.  We haven't had any issues with them- behavioral or otherwise.  I can't imagine that someone ever didn't want them.

And Luna being super helpful, as always.