Healthy Eats!

Lunch at Bethany's on Sunday after our perusal of the medicinal herb gardens.  No words needed!  It was perfectly delicious!  Thanks!

One last look at Mt Rainier leaving Seattle crossing over the 520 Bridge!

Medicinal Herb Gardens

On the wonderfully sunny Sunday just past, Darrell and I went to Seattle to have lunch with Bethany and take a walk through the UW's  Medicinal Herb Gardens.  It was supposed to be a guided tour, but apparently the budget cuts hit in this area, too, as the tours were cancelled, but the gardens could be investigated on our own.

 Several large greenhouses are just to the south of the herb gardens.  Those are scarlet runner beans vining up the ropes.  If you have ever grown those, you can imagine what a riotous mass of scarlet blooms will adorn this massive area before too long!

The gardens sprawled around on what we hear is about 2 acres.  There were hundreds of plants, some of which I recognized and even grew, others I had heard of but never seen, and then a host of plants I had neither heard of nor seen before! It would have been fascinating to hear what they were all used for!

A couple of cool ones: This cactus looked like a 4 foot tall 'hen' of Hens and Chicks, so I will give it the name of 'Rooster".  The amazing pink flower was actually not a part of the herb gardens, but was some tall bush we passed on our walk back to Bethany's apartment, just a few blocks from the campus.

One of our favorites, we think stiff tickseed has a quiet character of its own, but not to be overlooked!

Big Trees and Nests!

While we were meandering through the herb gardens at the UW, we came upon some mighty tall, old trees, as well as a few huge egret nests!

 I didn't take the photos right to stitch them together perfectly, but they are connected where they should be!

In another tree we spied gigantic nests made with little branches and sticks!  No twigs or soft downy material for these babes!

Close-up of the nest so you can see the baby poking his head out on the left side of the nest.  The mama bird was busy trying to chase away a big black bird that was trying to eat her chicks.  What a commotion they made!

Strolling

From this beautiful old tower, the bells pealed and echoed across the UW Campus as we strolled through it looking at the scene set before us in the following photo:

Mt Rainier is in the background posing a striking picture behind the UW fountain 

 Looking back toward the upper campus from the other side of the fountain.  Rose gardens surround the fountain.

One of the magnificent libraries opening out into Red Square, called so because of the  red brick patio slanted at angles for a reason.  It is here that protests and 'assemblies' took place in the 1960's (I think that was the time frame), as the administration buildings sit on the north side of the square.  If the students got out of hand, it was designed so that police could shoot them with pressurized water hoses from up above, causing the bricks to become extremely slippery.  This would effectively prevent the students from being able to be effective in any aggressive movements they might start. Double meaning in that name!

This campus has got to be one of the most well designed and landscaped of universities!

Breathless in Seattle!

If for no other reason, this stunning view of Mt Rainier behind the huge fountain on the University of Washington Campus on a clear, sunny day is a compelling reason to seek admittance to this institute of higher education! Darrell and I were fortunate enough to be there with Bethany this Sunday.  'Bout took my breath away!

My Favorite Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie!

Though not the biggest fan of rhubarb, I do enjoy the mix of rhubarb with strawberries and , of course, plenty of sugar!  I tried out a new (to me) recipe from a book that has long found its home in my kitchen, Granny Stark's Search for The Perfect Fruit Pie, put  out by Storey Publishing. The recipe was submitted by a Georgiann Carroll. We thoroughly enjoyed this pie which entails using orange marmalade!

Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp grated orange rind

1/4 tsp salt

4 cups sliced rhubarb

2 cups slice strawberries

2 Tbl melted marmalade (any kind)

uncooked pie shells

2 Tbl butter

1/4 cup orange liqueur

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Mix together sugar, flour, orange rind and salt.

Combine rhubarb and strawberries into sugar mixture.








Brush bottom of pie shell with marmalade (see photo below)

Place fruit on marmalade.

Dot with butter.






Sprinkle with orange liqueur.

 I didn't have this, so I took 1/2 of the orange that I zested and squeezed it over the pie.  Seemed to work fine.

Top with upper crust.  I sprinkled sugar on the crust before baking, also. Never can have too much sugar with rhubarb (smile) !

Bake for 1 hour.

I found the pie needed to cool in order for it to set up and not be syrupy.  You can serve it with vanilla ice cream, or eat it al la carte!  Either way, it is pretty dang delicious!

Feathered Nursery

Darrell spotted this nest of baby robins in the pussy willow tree next to the pond today.  Of course I ran to get my camera and intrude on the nestlings!  The first time I poked the camera near their faces, all of their beaks opened  W I D E, ready to accept what food I might have to offer!  Unfortunately, the shot itself only included the beaks, and nothing else! Here is a better one.  So ugly they are cute!

Italian Tuscan Soup and Artisan Bread

I spent the day cooking up a batch of Deborah Mele's Creamy Tuscan Bean Soup and a loaf of Artisan Bread! These links will take you to the actual recipes, but I will briefly blog the process as well.  For the bread link, it takes you to the home page of the blog.  From there, select 'Recipes', 'Breads', and finally 'No Knead Artisan Bread'.

Soak the beans overnight to save time the day you want to make the soup. 

Once beans have finished the first simmering, add the chopped vegetables and rind.

Toss it all in a big pot and add the chicken stock and simmer again.  I added a sprig of rosemary and a bay leaf as well, for added flavor.

When beans are soft but not mushy, let soup cool, then whirl it in the blender or food processor.  Return to pot and rewarm while you start the garnish.

Dice the pancetta, apple and onion and saute in oil until soft.  Remove from heat and add parsley. 

Ladle soup into bowls and add a spoonful of garnish to each and serve. 

The bread is incredibly simple!  You must check it out! No kneading required!

It was tasty and perfect to serve with this soup!  We tried out my Calamondin Marmalade on it, too!

Black-headed Grosbeaks

One of my favorite birds to see come back each spring is the black-headed grosbeak. This fellow is trying to strike up a conversation with the metal bird on top of the feeder pole!

They do not have a very pretty head shape, but their coloring is beautiful!

Squirrelly Thief

Hibernation is over and they are back at it!  Stealing the birds' food!

Citrus Marmalades

Julie, my gourmet cooking friend who last fall taught me to make pepper jelly that actually sets up, makes a plethora of jams, jellies and marmalades for the fair every year. She takes mostly all first places, occasionally a second place.  Generous person that she is, she brings a stash of it to work to pass out to different folks.  If you are ever invited to her home, there is always a plate of crackers or breads set out along with five or so different jams, jellies or marmalades to sample.  So wonderful :o}  I used her method of making marmalade this past weekend so that I could use the fruit off of my Calamondin Citrus tree for something edible.  Calamondins are too bitter to eat straight off of the tree!

 Very simple to make, the marmalades only use citrus fruit and sugar.  After washing the fruit well, juice 1/3 of them.  Cut the remaining fruit into chunks that your food processor can handle, and whirl them into marmalade consistency.  Add the juice to this, and then 1/2 of the sugar.  The total amount of sugar is just a little less than the fruit.  For example, if you have 1 kilo of fruit, you will use 900 grams of sugar.  Translated into our unit of weight, that means approximately 2#3oz of fruit to just slightly under 2# of sugar.  Once you stir in 1/2 of the sugar, mix and allow it to sit overnight while it 'candies'.  The next day add the remaining sugar and heat on stove top until mixture is of marmalade consistency.  Time will depend on how high your heat is turned up, but it will take about 30 minutes.  If you are making a big batch, it needs to cook at least 30 minutes for a longer shelf life.  To test if it done, put a small blob on a plate and let it cool.  When you tilt the plate, it should stay in place.