Sept. 29 is National Coffee Day. Here’s a little Twin Peaks tribute:
All posts by adice
Learn to bake Norwegian holiday cookies
If you’ve ever seen those impressively pretty plates of Scandanavian cookies and wanted to learn to make your own, now’s your chance.Oslo Lodge, Sons of Norway in Bremerton will host three, free cookie baking workshops.I heard about it somewhat late (in today’s paper), so the first one, in which the group baked Spritz cookies beginning at 9 a.m. today will probably be tough to make in time (about 15 minutes as of this posting).
The next two, however, are coming Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, also starting at 9.
On Sept. 26, they’ll bake Sanbakkel (pictured), which is A tender almond cookie baked in tiny tins.
On Oct. 3, it’s Krumkake, airy cookies baked on a special hot iron with decorative etching and rolled into a cone.
Registration is required. Call 360-373-1503 or 360-377-7356.
The classes are at the lodge on Warren Avenue, at the north end of Olympic College’s parking lot near the bridge.
Bremerton’s 15th Street Bakery has closed
Bremerton’s 15th Street Bakery next to the Hi-Lo’s 15th Street Cafe has closed. The owners of Hi-Lo had opened it as both a bakery and waiting area for the cafe after the death of the bakery’s previous owner Luigi Ferrari. But in recent months, hours had dwindled and this week, this sign was posted in the window:
The cafe still is open and regularly packed as usual. And if people in the neighborhood are looking for sweets and pastries, longtime Bremerton baker McGavin’s also is open about a half mile up Callow Ave. and still selling pink champagne cakes, too.
Geoduck ice cream in Allyn
This was just too interesting not to share:
Hannah Raskin over at the Seattle Weekly writes that at this weekend’s Allyn Geoduck Festival, two versions of geoduck-flavored ice cream will make their “international debut.” Both have citrus bases, she says.
I’ve eaten raw geoduck before at a sushi bar in Bellingham, and from what I remember it was crispy and briny. There is no getting the sea out of that creature. While I get the possibilities of salty-sweet combinations, I’m a little wary of shellfish with ice cream.
But, I guess the “wha?” factor is part of the point. The festival’s organizer says they wanted to get people to go, and with at least several Seattle food bloggers playing up the novelty factor, they just may get their wish.
If you’re also intrigued, here’s more info on the festival:
Allyn Geoduck Festival
When: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 4
Where: Allyn waterfront
Highlights: Geoduck digging derby (10 a.m. to 1
p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.); live music starting at noon; Oyster
shucking contest (11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. with finals at
4:30 p.m.
Times:
Crimson Cove opens Poulsbo storefront to sell smoked goods
People who walked around downtown Poulsbo during Viking Fest last weekend may have noticed a new store on Front Street. Crimson Cove, which has been selling smoked salmon, smoked cheeses, nuts and other goods at area farmers markets during the past few years has opened a storefront.
Mark and Jody DeSalvo began selling smoked goods in 2007. They use alder and apple woods to smoke their goods from a building in Kingston.
The store, next to Sluy’s Bakery, has the same salmon and the variety of cheeses from blue to swiss that they’ve sold at farmers and other area markets as well as smoked salts, nuts, dips, crackers and salsas so boaters at Poulsbo marina can take back enough snacks for a day on the water. Plus, they have samples.
Lots of work going on in new Bremerton tapas lounge
As I was walking around downtown Bremerton late last week, I caught this site of Toro, the tapas (small plate) and martini lounge that’s slated to open this summer. The restaurant is the work of Bremerton businessman Carlos Jara.
By the looks of it, Jara isn’t just cleaning and moving into the former Badda Boom Badda Bing/Fillipi’s space on Pacific Avenue. He’s gutted the space for what looks like a full remodel, uncovering a tongue-and-groove ceiling, and based on a few photos from the lounge’s Facebook page, the color scheme will include some sexy reds, blacks and grays.
Food news roundup: festivals, $5 farmers market lunch, chocolate science, end of the world
Events
- THE SUN IS OUT! With such a murky May, that’s something to shout about. And to celebrate. I’ve already got iced barley tea in the making in anticipation of warmer weather yet.
- Both Poulsbo and Port Townsend farmers markets are canceled on Saturday, but in their stead will be the festivals that pack West Sound communities during Memorial Day Weekend. You may not be able to get the same fresh veggies, but there will be parades and pancake breakfasts. And if you’re a really industrious Kitsapper (and festival nut), you may be able to squeeze in a foot ferry ride to Port Orchard after Bremerton’s Armed Forces Day Parade (10 a.m.) before you head over to Viking Fest’s (2 p.m.). How you can also fit in Port Townsend Rhody Fest’s (1 p.m.) is beyond me.
- Seattle Green Fest runs Saturday and Sunday at Qwest Field Event Center. While it’s focused mostly on green businesses and the like, booths will have organic vegetarian dishes, organic beer and wine and a chocolate and sustainable coffee pairing talk at noon on Sunday.
- Seattle Beer Week kicked off this week. The Washington Beer Blog has a list of favorite events to mark the occasion.
Local Food for Baby
The Small Potatoes blog has posts again after taking a little (like bouncing baby little) hiatus. She returns with this post on feeding the new little locavore with tips on equipment and food.
$5 Market Lunch
Over at the Kitsap Cuisine blog, Brandy had a chance to check out the new market lunch offered on Saturdays at Bay Street Bistro in Port Orchard. Here’s part of what she says of it in her post: “The idea is, you can come in on your own and have a low-cost plate of something wonderful, or better yet, come in with friends and order several plates to share in the Mediterranean style. … I thought this was a great way to get a feel for chef’s style.” Looks like I have something to try out on Saturday.
End of the World
At 6 p.m. Saturday, the world as we know it is slated to end, according to Harold Camping, head of the Christian network Family Radio. What does this have to do with food? Well, one clever LA Times blogger has decided (and blogged) that such an event calls for musing on last meals. Hers includes margaritas, tempura-battered fried chicken and red velvet cake. My last day of meals would likely include duck breast in cherry sauce from La Fermata, popcorn with lots of Ajinomoto (essentially pure MSG because who cares at that point?) my grandma’s yakisoba, iced and sweetened matcha and one last, full pint of chocolate peanut butter ice cream. How about yours?
Fish Hype
The year’s first shipment of Copper River salmon made its way to Seattle Tuesday to much (though brief) ado from the local TV stations. don’t get me wrong, the fish is good. But I think some of the breathless hype and a fair amount of the cost has just a little to do with marketing. King fillets are, however, a little cheaper at about $30 to $50 a pound at Pike Place market this year because of a better run.
Chocolate Scientist
Theo chocolate factory in Fremont apparently has a chocolate scientist, according to The Stranger’s Charles Mudede. Andy McShea apparently has been working to make pure chocolate into more than candy bars. He’s been making beverages and pudding with nothing else added. He tells The Stranger, “By looking at the material, and understanding its properties, we can do fun things with it.”
That’s all for this week. I’d have read more food news, but frankly, I’m too busy closing my eyes and setting my face toward the sun! Have a great weekend!
Could Kitsap have a year-round farmers market?
At a Monday night meeting of the Kitsap Community and Agriculture Alliance, Nikki Johanson of Pheasant Field Farms kicked off a discussion among the roughly 30 attendees.
As farmers market seasons close up for the witness, she said, she’s increasingly heard vendors and customers wonder aloud where to go next for their local foods.
“People want local food … and they want it more than x-amount of months,” she said.
KCAA President Marilyn Holt said that additionally, for a commercial farmer to make it, the farm needs to be selling for 48 weeks out of the year. The farmers who don’t likely have to find additional sources of income.
Currently, most markets close in October. Poulsbo has a one-weekend Thanksgiving market and Bainbridge Island reopens its market in a new location in mid- to late-November and stays open for another month.
Year-round farmers markets exist elsewhere in the Puget Sound region. There is, of course, Pike Place, but also Ballard, University District, West Seattle, Port Angeles and San Juan Island.
In downtown Everett, a developer plans to build a 60,000 square-foot agriculture center to house a year-round farmers market, and will include a commercial kitchen and processing facility The facility will anchor a 180-unit housing project. A nonprofit group of farmers will operate the market, which developers hope to have open for the 2012 season.
Some markets like Port Townend’s and Olympia’s are open until Christmas, which some at the meeting suggested may be a better option for Kitsap.
And what’s sold at these markets isn’t just soaps and jams, though the producing of the latter has recently been made a little easier with the passage of a cottage food bill in Washington .
The winter offerings are, of course, not nearly as abundant as what’s offered in the summer, but farmers are able to bring in squashes and root crops and dried fruits and vegetables.
And let’s not forget that animals are raised on farms, too. One farmer said she saw plenty of poultry at West Seattle’s market. For the same to happen in Kitsap, though, farmers would likely have to find or create a facility (possibly a mobile one) to process poultry.
Johanson said that additionally, she’s had success with hoop houses, which could allow her to have marketable produce in February and March.
But many questions remain.
Questions such as: Where would the market go? Would there be a single space or would it be better to extend the seasons of several markets? Would the market(s) be truly year-round or is it better to lengthen the season to, say, Christmas? Would there be enough time after planning to plant crops to harvest this winter? Can you draw enough customers? Would there be a high enough proportion of farmers to meet Washington State Farmers Market Association guidelines (and thus gain the benefits that goes with being a part of the association, such as insurance)?
And, importantly, would enough farmers be willing to extend what can be an exhausting work year?
That last question is one group members hope to address first.
They’ve asked farmers market managers — Bremerton and Poulsbo markets were represented at the meeting — to poll their vendors and will go from there.
And until I hear those results, I’m going to do a little polling of my own and, as always, please comment away.
A Look into the history of Kitsap farmers
Just a short note for all of you local food lovers out there: If you haven’t caught it already, Diane Fish over at the Kitsap Farm to Fork blog last week started a series taking a historical look at farming in Kitsap.
She’s pulled together some great information and photos of the area’s agrarian roots, including a look at how early settlers blasted stumps away to clear the timber land; a mention of early settlers and farmers; Bainbridge Island fruit growers; the first co-ops; and she found Kitsap’s first farmers market, which opened on May 20, 1922.
Food news roundup: food truck and cheese fests, 10 year library wait list, order-by-tablet
Events
- This weekend marks the seventh annual Seattle Cheese Festival at Pike Place Market. It includes cooking demonstrations, a little Mozzerella making and, of course, some cheese tasting. The event runs from 10 a.m .to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with cheese tasting in the market’s main thoroughfare and demonstrations nearby.
- Chowder lovers can get their fix at the 15th annual Seattle Waterfront Chowder Cookoff. For $5, you get taste-tests at nine establishments along the waterfront, (yes, including Ivar’s). Tasting goes from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Also on the waterfront will be the Seattle Luxury Chocolte Salon, which runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center.
- For those who are in love with some of the new flavors traveling around cities on four wheels, Elliott Bay Books and Richard Hugo House on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. will co-host several food trucks as part of a meet-and-greet for food author Heather Shouse, who recently wrote “Food Trucks; Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels.” The trucks — Maximus Minimus, Skillet, and Hallava Faladel — will be at the Hugo House parking lot at 1634 Eleventh Avenue
Longest Book Wait?
Foodies may have heard that the Seattle library wait for “Modernist Cuisine” was long. At a cost of nearly $500 ($461 on Amazon.com) the five-volume compilation of photos, recipes and modern cooking techniques, few beyond wealthy foodies or serious chefs can afford to purchase the buzzworthy set. But it appears the wait is more than just long. It is a decade long, according to Seattle Eater. I have no idea what the longest wait time is for any book (Google was little help), but 10 years has to be close, right?
As a local note for those of us in Kitsap, though the local libraries do have a long list of cookbooks, Modernist Cuisine is not among them because of the high cost ($625 for the library) and its weight (46.3 pounds) makes it impractical, according to the library’s nonfiction materials selector.
History of Food Blogs
Saveur magazine recently compiled a timeline of food blogs, including snippets from what may be the first posts of such classics as Seattle’s Orangette, and Gluten Free Girl and many others.
Check Please
According to Slate.com, a Palo Alto, Calif. company has created a tablet to let you order and pay for your meal. The company is targeting chain-style restaurants, the not-so-fancy but better-than-fast-food type.. The story describes it thus:
“The Presto aspires to be the food-services version of the airline check-in kiosk or the ATM or the self-checkout at your local pharmacy. It makes a person’s job a computer’s job, and that cuts costs. Each console goes for $100 per month. If a restaurant serves meals eight hours a day, seven days a week, it works out to 42 cents per hour per table—making the Presto cheaper than even the very cheapest waiter.”
While I can understand that the usually low-profit restaurant market could benefit from a boost in profits, and while I can admit to the occasional annoyance of servers with one too many pieces of flair, I’m not so sure about this idea. Can the app really be smart enough to let me ask for my dressing on the side? Who will answer all my mundane questions? So, I’ll wait and see.
