Change of Blogs

I had a long pause and in the mean time decided I wanted a different title. So I am now posting at: thisnorthwestlife.blogspot.com

I am not sure if I will work with The Local Life - The Good Life again - we'll see. In the mean time, if you haven't given up on me, you can find we at the above link.

The Local Life Changes Location - Hello Seattle!

There was a long pause since my last entry due to my husband loosing his job, deciding to go into business for himself, and then our move back to Seattle after being away for nearly four years. We really couldn't be much happier to be back in Seattle. We love it here and missed it while we lived in Olympia. Olympia has a lot to offer the locavore really, but Seattle seems more like home to us and I am looking forward to exploring all its little nook and crannies in greater detail than I did the last time I lived here.

I have given this blog a bit of thought lately, because I am aware of other bloggers from the Seattle area, good ones, that cover much of the same topics I have in the past. I'm not ready to drop this blog though. I think there is still so much to write about and since Seattle and the Northwest is such a big place, hopefully I can find a few unique stories to share here.

Our living arrangement has changed drastically. We were ready to try something a bit different which has led us to living in the Belltown area in a 20th floor apartment. We are loving it. There is much we gave up by not having a house again, like a yard for instance. I wasn't to concerned about this because I know how much I loved having a p-patch when we lived in Seattle before. But now there are over 1800 people waiting for garden plots and I'm a couple years down the list. I'll have to be patient and maybe even see if there is anything I can do to help get more p-patches developed.

My closest Farmer's Market is Pike Place. That is going to be a challenge as well. When I lived here before I tended to avoid Pike Place for good chunks of the year due to the mass crowds of shuffling tourists. It's hard to get your grocery shopping done in crowds like that. I'll have to learn the tricks though, because I am still set on walking to get my food as much as possible. It's nice that it is open year round, but I haven't seen many local farms, or i haven't been able to spot them. I'll have to do some research as to when they are there and how often.

I am not lacking for local bakeries though. There is an organic french bakery, Boulangerie Nantaise, really close by and so far everything has been delicious. I am especially fond of their whole wheat loaf, the Chausson aux Pommes, an apple turnover, and the Pain au chocolat. Only a little farther there is the Macrina Bakery where we picked up a delicious cider bread not to long ago. Down at the Pike Place Market I have frequented The Three Girls Bakery many times for their amazing feta and spinach croissants; absolutely the best ones I have ever had. I am sure there are many more bakeries to discover. And I am looking forward to it and all the other little discoveries awaiting me in this new "Local Life".

Ingenuity

This article from the New York Times brings up the idea of learning how to use things like small batch flours, which vary in textures and protein levels, by having a willingness to experiment instead of just following a recipe.

It brought to mind a story from The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. During an unexpected season of blizzards that lasted 8 months, the Ingalls family were completely cut off from supplies. The small frontier town was just starting up and supplies went fast. Seed wheat ended up being the only source of grain to make bread. The only grinder available - an old hand cranked coffee mill - the kind with the little drawer that catches the grounds. This had to be turned all day to make enough "flour" for each person to have only a small amount of bread. If Laura's mother had not been able to adjust her way of making bread to work with something more liked cracked wheat, that family would most likely have starved.

I think one of the reasons I love old stories like this is because of the ingenuity of the people. They had the ability to work with whatever was on hand, to make do. It was a skill to be proud of. A skill that has in many ways been lost in our society.

We could start by learning how to bake with small batch flours, then by cooking a meal with whatever is available in the garden. If we are craving apple pie and there are no apples, maybe we might think to try green pumpkin with the same spices - another trick up Caroline Ingalls sleeve.

Ingenuity- I'll take a slice of that!

In the mean time...

I'm still catching up from a vacation, family visit, and all those chores that seem to pile up when you go away - even for a week! Until I get to a new article here are a couple New York Times pieces to chew on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/dining/22local.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/dining/11garden.html?fta=y

Last Days of Summer

As the last days of summer slip by I am inspired to grab onto each moment, to relish them with all my might. I think it was the crickets singing in the yard recently, mixed with the beginning blushes of color on the sweet gum tree, that brought home to me the coming transition of summer to fall. Suddenly there was an urgency to make sure I didn't miss any opportunity for summertime pleasure. I had to make a point to get to a lake and enjoy a cool afternoon swim on a hot day. I've got plans to fit in at least one camping trip where it's not likely to rain. I must make sure that I plan as many outdoor evening meals as I can, complete with glasses of crisp cold Rose'.

Soon I'll be seeking out the best wild blackberry patches to fill as many containers as I can, including the one known as my tummy. Blackberry pies are in the near future and if I can keep from eating every last one of those juicy black morsels maybe, just maybe I'll put some in the freezer for some future cold rainy day when the scent of blackberry pie baking in the oven will be the only thing to truly warm me up.

In the mean time, a late summer rain is coming down outside providing the perfect opportunity to spend the day baking with the summer abundance of zucchini I seem to have recently acquired. My husband has the hardest time turning down homeless food, including zucchini - he's a friend to gardeners, if there ever was one!

Green Bean Season

The last couple weeks of CSA shares from Kirsop Farm has included big bags of beautiful beans. This is one of my favorite veggies and one of the first that I learned to only eat in season. Off season grocery store beans tend to be rubbery, pithy and tasteless. Compare that to the crisp flavorful local in season bean and there is just no competition.

Green beans were always a garden staple for my family. We would grow long rows of pole beans and I would be sent out to pick them. This was in part because my mother's favorite variety, the Blue Lake, tended to have a greater concentration of irritating hairs all over the leaves which would make her break out into a rash - more so than it did me. That and I think it was just her motherly prerogative. (I've now grown into the full blown rash, but wasn't smart enough to produce children to pick the beans for me!) People who have never grown beans or picked there own may not realize how much work it is when done by hand, the way it most often is on small local farms. I always stuck to pole beans because I at least could spend a little less time bending over. Bush beans for me equal one nasty back ache. They do have the benefit of tending to ripen all at once or at least closer together than most pole beans, however. Each person will have there own preference and many types of beans are available in both growth habits.

My mom often canned and froze excess beans to be used in the off-season. Again, home canned green beans are nothing like their commercial counterpart, for that matter neither are the frozen ones. The difference often comes from the freshness of the beans when they are processed. My all time favorite processing of beans is Dilly Beans. My mouth begins to water even thinking of this deliciously tangy and often spicy pantry staple. When I get around to making mine this year I'll share the recipe. For now I'll share a newer way that I've been preparing my steady supply of beans. It all started when I picked up a jar of Garden of Life organic extra virgin coconut oil. This is coconut oil that still has the light flavor of coconut to it, and for this recipe that is important so make sure you are using a similar coconut oil.

Green Beans with Coconut Oil and Garlic

1 pound green beans
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
sea salt to taste

Use a wok or large skillet to heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the minced garlic and stir for a minute or so. Add the beans and stir often till their color is extra bright green and they are cooked but still very crisp. Transfer to a serving dish and season with sea salt.

Serves 2-4. I could honestly eat them all myself, but I play nice and share.

Celebrate Washington Farmers Market Week

Governor Chris Gregoire along with Washington State Department of Agriculture and Washington State Farmers Market Association recently proclaimed August 3rd-9th as Washington Farmers Market Week. In celebration they have issued a set of "Shopper Challenges" where you can enter to win a bag of local goodies from your own Farmers Market. To find out more about the proclamation and how to participate in the challenges visit: http://www.wafarmersmarkets.com/washingtonfarmersmarketweek.html.
Olympia's Farmers Market is open Thursdays through Sundays from 10am-3pm.