What's Happening??

Lake Days are back, and no one is happier about that than Mae!  Summer has certainly arrived with a heat wave this past weekend.  It's been nice to go to the lake for a short game of fetch and cool off in the very cold water!

I've been enjoying experimenting with the "shrubs" I purchased at the farmer's market.  I added them to beer and oh my!  that was very tasty.  Give it a try!  But my absolute favorite new summer drink is made with Bourbon, a shrub and JAM....Sweet Caroline's Jams and Jellies had a facebook post  awhile back that I had to follow up on:


"I don't know what to call this drink, but it's all about the smell of the woods in the middle of summer, and the bite of stinging nettles and thorns when picking wild blackberries. 1 shot of bourbon, 1 tablespoon of marionberry lime vanilla jam, a splash of blackberry vanilla cardamom shrub, a healthy dose of woodland bitters by Portland Bitters, and a splash of soda water."

It is delicious!!  I was able to find Portland Bitters in Whole Foods....of course it was the WF in Portland.  But they had a good variety of Portland Bitters and other brands as well.  More experimentation will be needed.  Anyway, if you can not get your hands on the shrub, you might try a berry cider in place of the shrub and soda water. (Try the blackberry cider from Atlas!)   A nice, rich berry jam will do if you can't get Caroline's.  But, if you live anywhere near where their products are available it is well worth the effort to pick up the jams and shrubs.  I promise you will not be disappointed!  (see more on their facebook page for details on where to find them!)

Hope your summer has gotten off to a good start!  Do you have a favorite water spot to cool off in?  A good summer drink you'd like to share?  Would love to hear about it!

Ballard Farmer's Market

I finally got to the Ballard Farmer's Market .  It is one of my favorites and I have been wanting to go for weeks now but we have been so busy that it took awhile to work it in to our weekend plans.  The assortment of goods is simply amazing.  Here, just a few shots of my take from the day.  

The $10 market bouquet

One of my big reasons for wanting to get there was to buy some "shrubs" from by far my FAVORITE vendor, Sweet Caroline's Jams and Jellies.  These aren't plants, they are drinking shrubs. (look them up on wiki for a detailed history. It's quite interesting) The flavor combinations are amazing and it was difficult to pick just one, so of course, I bought 3!  Mixed with a little Perrier and ice they are incredibly refreshing.  You can also use them for a mixer with alcohol....more on that later!  The jams also combine fruits and flavors that are unusual.   I'm sure before the summer is over I will have tried them all!

That's right, made with vinegar!  

Colonial Era...Don't you love it!?

I also bought a marionberry lime vanilla jam~ yum!

Do you have a farmer's market nearby?  What's your favorite thing about them? Besides all the produce, flowers, meat and baked goods, it's always fun to see the musicians, the people and of course the dogs!  There were so many dogs at the market today.  That would be a fun post in itself sometime.... 

MEOW

"Flame", one of the adoptable kitties. My daughter thought Flame looked like Jim Gaffigan....

What kind of people go to Cat Cafes??  People like US!  Back in March, my kids had spring break but we were very busy and didn't have a lot of time for a vacation.  Soooo, we did some local trips, including a visit to Seattle's first cat cafe, Meowtropolitan.  

What is a cat cafe?  Well, it combines coffee and cats.  Quite a simple formula really!  While they are very popular in Japan and other Asian countries, this is the first one to open in Seattle.  Appointments are made online and you have one hour, ten minutes or so to get your coffee and then 50 minutes to enjoy interacting with the cats.  The coffee house is separated from the cat room by double doors to prevent escapes, (and also because of health codes).  There were about 20 cats on the premises, half of which were available for adoption.  Overall, it was a wonderful experience!  The coffees and pastries are cat themed of course.  I had a "Meowcha" and an adorable chocolate macaron with a kitty face on it.  There were about 15 guests including us and you know what??  EVERYONE had a big smile on their face!  It was a very happy and relaxing experience!

Is there a cat in this basket??  Yes!

Lots of structures for cats to climb on, or just sleep!

If you ever get the opportunity to go to a cat cafe, do it!!  The cats are lovely and it's a terrific way to spend an hour of your day.  I will certainly go back and visit again!

Green Grass

One of the things I truly love about where I live is that I can be on snow, xc skiing, snowboarding or just running around , maybe sitting on a snowbank....

....and then with a 30 minute drive?  I can be in a completely different place, usually 10-20 degrees warmer and the grass is green!  By February the Seattle area has flowering trees and shrubs in bloom, everything is green, though a bit soggy, and it really feels like spring!  But with the snow pack we have this winter, we will be enjoying "winter" sports well into May.  Not a bad deal really.

It was actually a bit warm for her at 50 degrees!  Used to the snow and cold weather.

Monday Things, Whidbey Island

Just a few photos from a quick trip over to Whidbey Island we made last week.  Gorgeous Puget Sound day!  It was perfect for walking around Fort Casey~

Songs In The Key Of Life

Linger a Little

We needed to run into Seattle on Tuesday and it was an overcast, blurry day.  Perfect for some Ivar's fish and chips and chowder.  It was a good break in our day, a chance to linger over a local favorite and slow things down a bit.

That was Tuesday and here it is, already Friday.  I've been asked a few times today if I have plans for the weekend?  Well, no, no I don't.  I seem to be caught in a limbo between wanting to plan every day and make sure I get "things" done and absolutely wanting a completely free calendar, every day open, no plans, just time to linger.  

Tomorrow is the first day of summer and I am excited that it's finally here!  But summer feels completely different to me at 50 something , than it did at 20 something, or even 30 or 40 something.  It's lost that spark, that spontaneity that makes it so fabulous.  It also has become incredibly short!!  In decades past it used to stretch out before me like a dream, warm days, road trips, the kids playing in the yard and swimming in the river.  Now it feels like summer lasts about a week or two, 3 days maybe.  How do you slow it down?  How do you make it last?  I'm going to try to wave a magic wand over it and weave some sort of dreamlike glitter into July and August.  If I find the magic mix to slow down the season and linger a little I will let you know!  Do you have anything planned for the weekend summer?  

Coffee Lover Part Two

Back in 2007, I gave up drinking coffee.  My daughter, 12 at the time and brutally honest, kept complaining that I had coffee breath. She would scream at me to open a window every time we got in the truck.   My cold turkey quit had more to do with a Starbucks visit though.  I went in , ordered a tall Americano and took a big gulp as I got back behind the wheel.  I felt something foreign in my mouth that jabbed at my throat as I swallowed. In a panic I tried to spit the coffee back in the cup thru that little drinking hole and ended up instead, spewing coffee all over myself, all over the dashboard.  It was pretty disgusting and a great big mess!  So, I quit.  The culprit was a  bristle from the brushes they use to clean the machines....nasty?  Yup.

I gave up coffee for about three months.  I don't remember many side effects, just a few headaches from the caffeine withdrawal.  This time?  This time?  oh man!  I felt so miserable.  Here's a list: Body aches, stiffness, moodiness, irritability, IRRITABILITY, inability to focus, sleeplessness, (yes, ridiculous) and of course the headaches.  This time the headaches were minor, but at the height of  symptoms I felt like I was getting the flu.  I was so out of it that at one point I was trying to unlock my car by pointing my phone at it.  I looked up symptoms on line and of course all of the above were listed.  Interestingly, caffeine withdrawal now has it's own diagnosis code in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.  Seriously.  At least that's that the internet tells me.  I could see how you could go to a doctor with the symptoms because really, I felt pretty awful.

It's been about three weeks. No cold turkey this time.  This time I had to  wean and cajole, talk myself through it, sit on the couch and stare into space. But I am over most of the symptoms and feel a bit normal (that's a stretch for me always).   Here's why I decided to give it up:

1) Nutritionally, coffee was messing me up.  

    My normal routine would be to get up have coffee and a banana and go for a run.  Bananas started to bother me, made my mouth itch ,upset my stomach.  I tried to find a substitute but nothing else feels right.  So coffee took over.  One cup became two, more coffee at 10 when my daughter got up, then of course more or a big mocha/latte/flavored thing for that afternoon slump. and hey, it's the Pacific Northwest, so why not have MORE?  We do love our coffee here....In fact we survive the rain with coffee, it's a KEY ingredient in NW life!  But all this coffee was not helping me nutritionally. My stomach was not enjoying the ride either.  Food seemed to pass though my system on a coffee flume, few nutrients staying behind to fuel me.

2) I never sleep well.

     I tell people i have't had a good night's sleep since the 80's and I mean it. With age and stress and hormones (?) it's gotten worse.  Caffeine is a known sleep enemy so, why not eliminate it?  it's good to eliminate enemies right?

3) I am sick of bladder irritation and having to pee on runs. Or actually just         peeing while running.

     Have you ever peed your pants running?  Some of us have worse experiences I know.  Even famous runners! But it is a problem that can be made worse with coffee, a known bladder enemy too. And of course age and hormones (dang).   I've had it happen more than once and it's not very comfortable!!  It has to end.

4) The coffee habit was taking up too much of my budget.

     It's simple math.  A monthly massage may be a better way to spend?

I will give you an update soon.  I am already sleeping a bit better.  I wake during the night but can fall back to sleep and last week, twice, I spent over 11 hrs in bed!  I'm hoping eventually to reach an agreement with caffeine, moderate amounts, good coffee, good friends.  

Monday Things

My Mother's Day flowers are wilting as I type but that's ok; it was a wonderful day!  Grilled fish tacos, a family walk up the hill through town and a Black Forest cake from the local bakery.  It's become our go to cake for every  occasion (like birthdays) and sometimes we make up occasions....

In case you weren't aware of this fact, it's American Craft Beer Week! (no I didn't make it up).   I am going to celebrate with one of my favorite local craft beers from Two Beers Brewing Co. in Seattle, the EVO IPA.  It was the IPA that made me a believer in the whole IPA thing.  I finally GET IT!  

And last on my list this Monday....I am incredibly tired of eating the same old healthy grain cluster stuff that I have eaten for what seems like forever (okay, just for a few months).  It's not that it isn't delicious but I am just burned out on it.  So, I made my own granola!  It's a delicious recipe from Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics by Ina Garten.  I have 6 or 7 of her cook books and I love them.  This recipe is fairly simple, the ingredients are easy to find and it tastes really great.  it also ends up being about half the price of the brand I buy.  It's such a 70's thing to do! Seriously, I actually remember the first time I ever had home made granola and it was 1972.  Enjoy your week!  Run strong, eat well, drink some craft beer~

Monday Things