July 11, 2009

Saturdays Are Wonderful


Saturdays are wonderful.

Soccer games, road trip, street fair, playing with a five year old with an impish grin, shaved ice, trying a new cheese (mmmm), and a beautiful sunset.

Soccer games were forgettable, unfortunately. A few good plays but no score thus no wins.

Road trip up to Portland and back.

The Mississippi Street Fair was excellent. It went forever. My favorites were - the superhero, cool hats, hip art, bucket drums and the cellist Adam Hurst.

The five year old was cute and had a friend. He loved lime shaved ice. He had a dirty face. He was bored and preparing to flop at New Seasons until he met the iPhone.

Shaved ice is always good. Lime and Mango today.

New cheese was smooth and peppery. Pyrenees Peppercorn. Went well with the fig spread.

And a beautiful sunset ends the day.


July 6, 2009

Salem Pedestrian Footbridge - Looking Up


July 5, 2009

Swiss Chard Pie



I'm amazed by the power of social networking.

Just today I was searching the internet for a local Sunday Farmer's Market with no luck. I logged into FB and noted an old high school chum had posted a link to her friends' website with the notation that they would be selling their veg at a local farmer's market.

This is how I found you Pitchfork and Crow. Cute website and lovely veg. Their noted recipe for Swiss Chard Pie was my inspiration for dinner.

Of course I tweaked it a bit. The recipe below only varies slightly from the original.

I used a no roll pie crust recipe and adjusted the amounts to my liking for one pie.






Swiss Chard Pie

1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 small bunch Swiss Chard (6-7 leaves)
6 eggs
1 cup shredded cheese
1 teaspoon salt
pie crust
~
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brown onion and garlic in butter. Trim and chop chard, add to pan, and cook until wilted. Beat eggs in a bowl; mix in cheese, salt, and chard mixture. Pour into pie crusts.
Bake until knife inserted into center comes out clean, 30-40 minutes.
.
Recipe adapted from the excellent book: From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce, Third Edition

Red Currant Pancakes



The gnomes got to my stash of red currants in the night.
Not really, it was my kids. I would have thought they were too tart for their taste.

I'll have to try making the sorbet another day.

I can't be too sad because these red currant pancakes were muy delicioso. They were perfect topped with homemade strawberry freezer jam.

Bursts of tart within.

July 4, 2009

Red Currants


I made a quick stop today at the Saturday Market to pick up a present for the birthday party. What to get a two year old? I chose a yellow/red tie dyed sun dress and two peacock feathers. Perfect.

I also picked up a quart of red currants. Hmmm. Currants.

They're charming. They're tiny. They're tart. They're beautiful. ..... and I have no idea what to do with them.

I resort to some of my favorite cooking blogs for inspiration. Eureka! delicious:days saves the day.


I'll let you know how it turns out.

Durzo Blint - I love that name

My son reads incessantly.

Incessantly.

The latest fantasy series which consumed his time is from Brent Weeks - The Night Angel Trilogy. Now, I'm not one to let my kids read alone, so I usually pick up and read their leftovers. I really enjoyed this one. Great scope.

Durzo Blint. I love that name.

Today, at a birthday party for a two year old, the auntie pulled "The Way of Shadows" out of her purse. I let her know that I, and my son, had read and enjoyed the book. She let me know that the author was a friend of hers. Wow!

I can't wait to tell my son. He'll be excited...or maybe not. He is 15.

July 2, 2009

Where to Pho in Salem - Kim Houng Restaurant



I crave Pho.

Where do we go in Salem for Pho? We head out Silverton Road to Kim Huong Restaurant. It's in an unassuming storefront next to a small oriental grocery A-Dong Market. It is the only reason I truly head out Silverton Road these days unless it's August and I'm going to the Oregon State Fair.

I digress. The Pho is outstanding. Joe never fails to order it in one of it's many varieties. He prefers the type with tripe and other stuff - "for the flavor." Tonight, Gabe followed his father's lead and ordered #4 as well. While chatting, chatting, chatting with his brother Gabe suddenly dropped his spoon. I giggled and asked him what was the matter. He explained, it was sort of like an iceberg. On the surface it looked fine, but once he started in it kept going and going and going. Although he was unsure of what "it" was. It was the tripe. We didn't discuss it any further.

I usually have the best intentions of actually ordering the Pho but always seem to be charmed away by the Grilled Shrimp Bun. Oh, how I love the Bun. Cool and refreshing with delectable warm, grilled shrimp to boot.

Jake chose a different path tonight and was mighty pleased with the Sweet and Sour Prawns. To clarify, this is not Sweet and Sour Shrimp, these were light and airy with a deeply colored sweet and sour sauce. Delectable.

Our choice for Vietnamese food in Salem always finds us heading down Silverton Road.

(503) 581-0884

2950 Silverton Rd NE
Salem, OR 97301




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