Seattle Bon Vivant

My lunch had eyes...

Yesterday's lunch, taken with my Sidekick 3. Not a great photo by any means but a very delicious treat I wished I
could have shared with you all. One crab, boiled, served with tostones and a coco frío, $13.00. Mr. C had the Crab stew served in the shell ($10). A dozen average sized live crabs to go set us back $40. The biggest crabs in the pen went for $50 a dozen. We will eat ours tonight.

Greetings from San Juan, Puerto Rico!

We are cruising around the Piñones coastal road (off the international airport and Isla Verde beachfront hotel and residential area) enjoying the gorgeous weather (95F), blue skies, the sand and the sea while nibbling on alcapurrias de cangrejo (fried grated green banana stuffed with crab, bacalaítos (salted codfish fritters), drinking cold as ice "coco fríos" (coconut water in the coconut) and taking lots of pictures... Next stop, buying a dozen fresh blue crab to take home for a crab boil Friday (crab will be kept in a cage and fed fresh coconut and bananas until then). Before heading home, we'll nosh on fresh crab boiled to order served with a side of tostones (twice fried and smashed green plantains). Tonight, off to dinner for two at local restaurant, a favorite of Mr. C called Ajili-Mojili in the Condado district. Definitely wishing you were here...

And away we go!

It has been a hectic week. A lot of work and travel planning, many errands, shopping, multiple calls a day, and giddy anticipation that keeps me up at night.

I have not packed yet. In a few minutes Mr. C should be arriving at SEA-TAC from Fairbanks, Alaska, only to unpack his bags and pack them again. We do not plan to go to bed tonight since our wake-up call will be two thirty in the morning with car service picking us up at 3:30.

But...all the photography and film equipment--the vintage Polaroid cameras and TLR's, the film (to record new movies and photos, to make new family memories) and cans of old family Super 8 movies taken by my father, not seen in too many years--were shipped Express Mail this morning to avoid the hassles of bulky carry-ons, heavy lead film bags while going through the TSA screening process at the gate.

Tomorrow, before most of you are up having your first cup of coffee, we will be on our way to Puerto Rico. And what a different visit this will be from our last one, five months ago.

This time around no hospitals, no waiting rooms, no stress, no tears. Just a fun time with my parents, my only sister, family and friends. To celebrate life, love, health and five months of my mom being cancer free (October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month). Coming full circle (no pun intended). ;-)

Back in Seattle, the cat will have two dear friends keeping him company while we are away. Down south in the Caribbean, my parents, who have spent the last few days getting the house ready for our arrival, will be greeting us with a feast of favorite dishes that they have been planning for weeks in advance, a lifetime worth of menus, to be consumed over the next 9 days.

The weather report says it might rain in San Juan tomorrow They were torrential rains today, thunderstorms, flash food advisories. This, after all, is the peak of hurricane season.

But frankly as soon as we fly over the Florida keys, when surrounded by loved ones with all that green, coconuts, mangoes and deep blue sea, all that glorious food and music, a little Flamenco, a lot of surf and sand, hot sun and clear skies.

And next Saturday, a big party to celebrate being together. Come rain or come shine, it is going to be paradise. We can't hardly wait!

I'll be reporting from the road so stay tuned..

Puerto Rico on my Flickr (May 2006)

Crabapples are not crabby at all...

Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 14 Oct '06

I made a batch of apple butter (my first one, ever) with these (2 pounds total) that came out fantastic! It was a lot of work  (the Crabapples--as tiny as cherries, from *Tonnemaker Family Orchards-- made it necessary to use both a food mill and a large mesh strainer--to press the purée through with a spoon--but worth all the elbow grease.

*At Columbia City Farmers Market

The beautiful quince

Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 12 Oct '06

One of my top five favorite fruits (+ pomegranates, figs, bitter oranges and Meyer lemons) and the most fragrant of them all.

I've always purchased mine at the supermarket and just recently realized I've never "looked" for them at local farmers markets. Availability can be tricky. Some supermarkets carry these as a novelty since they are so expensive. I paid $12 for four of these at a local grocer (Metropolitan Market) that I cooked with sugar and made into a simple quince butter.

I do know of at least one person who was able to purchase fresh quince from somebody's garden up in Queen Anne, which is uptown. Those are smaller and far more fragrant than mine. In fact some of the buckets smelled of pine resin and others of pineapple. Quite intoxicating!

Two or three of these beauties in a bowl is enough to fragrance your kitchen or dining room. Try it someday. :)

Taste: Organic Jarrahdale Squash

Purchased from *Tonnemaker Family Orchard at the Columbia City Farmers Market. It is such a pretty squash that I can't bring myself to eat it yet so I can't tell you much about it. 

I spoke to one of the Tonnemakers last week and they told me that the Jarrahdale (cucurbita maxima, not to be confused with Fairytale) is an England native, relative of the kabocha and it is supposed to be sweet (not as much as butternut) and stringy.

They recommend I eat it within a month. And I will eat it, promise! But until then, it will sit pretty on the dining table.

Tonnemaker Family Orchard
4122 W Lake Sammamish Pkw
Bellevue, WA
425 401-1070

*I also love their ground cherries and crabapples. Small as cherries, I used them to make apple butter the other day.

Farmers Market postcard: Pumpkins!

Because orange is the color of fall...

At the Market: Hardy Kiwi

Hardy kiwi (actinidia arguta), a native to China, Russia, Korea, is being cultivated in the Northwest with great success. A relative of the kiwi, this vine produces fuzz-free berries,  it is about the size of a large grape and you can eat them out of hand, skin and all.

These babies have a deliciously sweet kiwi flavor with a hint of tartness on the skin. They are extremely tasty and quite tempting to sneak a pint and eat it all by your lonesome. I've been sharing mine with friends at home and parties and they have already fallen in love with them.

Purchased from the hardy kiwi man ($3.50) at Columbia City Farmers Market last Wednesday. He told me it was his first day of the season at the market.

I'm definitely getting some more today, perhaps even enough for a small batch of jam.

Quince jam by Marlena

Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 10 Oct '06

What was inside a quince and apple tart I had for breakfast this morning at Sweet & Savory. I'm inspired by it, but more on that later....

$5 lunch

Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 6 Oct '06

Lunch (Mexican Pepsi included), outside the taco truck, on a gorgeous sunny day..minutes before trying to snap the first photo with a brand new package of Spectra, that, unbeknownst to me, was expired and rendered weird but still pretty-ish exposures (in the manner of Georgia O'Keefe on drugs) for the next hour or so.

At Taqueria Los Potrillos (corner of Rainier Avenue South and South Graham Street on Rainier Avenue South). Family owned, friendly, clean, cheap and delicious.