A sad state
Ann says
Well, all of two or three readers out there that we had, I’m sure by now we’ve lost you. We’ve been gone from the Internet world for over a month, and I have few decent excuses. I could ramble about how crazy nursing school is, and there are unusual circumstances in both of our lives right now, but truly, it is no excuse.
All I wanted to do was to post some tasty recipes, and these days the thought of writing anything more than what I have to for what become weekly 15-page write ups is just too much.
There are, however, some updates. Susie, the cat I have had since I was 3 years old, who I picked out because she had her claws on the cage, screaming, who was my constant home companion through childhood drama, teen angst, and adult snuggles, has passed away. Also, Ginger, our big, goofy Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, also died from an obstructed airway caused by thyroid cancer, which spread up from the toe cancer that came back. She was the weirdest dog of the six dogs we have owned, and she was a lemon, to be sure.
My parents’ house feels empty now, but I have plans to fill it…..with pork. I know what you’re thinking; the pork won’t last long. I am aware, and it’s OK. A pork loin, humanely raised on a small farm in Oregon, will be shipped up here to me for Easter, and oh how delicious it will be. We have grand plans, dear readers, grand plans that involve figs, pomegranate molasses, potatoes, and onions. I can hardly wait.
So for now, since I am getting up at 5 am and it is already past ten, we have a slew of pictures that Abe is dealing with, and not me.
Abe says
I honestly had no plans to have this be a sad post. A March photo roundup, chronicling in pictures all the things sensible people would have posted right away, I had thought.
Cochon 555 came around Seattle, “5 chefs, 5 heritage pigs, 5 wineries,” and we visited. Jason Wilson of Crush produced our hands-down favorite plate (pork belly, surprise), though Anthony Hubbard of Chow Foods took the prize with a smorgasbord of pork, including ice cream on a bacon cone.
As the month progressed we made croissants from a Martha Stewart recipe, visited Anchovies and Olives — a wonderful seafood-centric small plates place, candied mandarinquats, made Chinese hot and sour soup with fresh wood ear mushrooms, and tried and failed to contain the excitement of, maybe, a hundred billion little yeast cells as we cooked them.
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- Mangosteen, cactus, sugar cane, durian, jackfruit, banana blossoms, coconut
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- John Sundstrom's head-to-toe terrine
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- Greens provided by the organizers
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- Matthew Dillon slicing mortadella
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- Croissants fresh from the oven
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- A proper menu warning
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- Grilled whole sardine, amongst the truly simple and delicious seafood at Anchovies and Olives
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- Mandarinquats, a cross between Mandarin oranges and kumquats
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- The bread incident
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- Fresh wood ear mushrooms
The rest of April promises further food events: Easter and a Duroc pork loin from Sweet Briar Farms, and a dinner group which I’m planning a vegetarian feast for. Also, for the Twitter-inclined, we’re tweeting dispatches and post notifications over here.
Ann, I’m sorry to hear about your sadnesses. At least it sounds like Susie had a nice long life.
Do you two think that Anthony Hubbard’s win in the Cochon 555 was well deserved in spite of your favorite plate coming from Jason Wilson? Also, the bread disaster is pretty funny. :-)
Yeah, Hubbard probably deserved the Seattle win. He also had a consomme with a brain mousse, some tasty sandwiches, and a couple other items on top of that.
Although, on the sandwich front, Dillon put his mortadella in what was probably Wonder bread, with generous doses of mayo. Those might have been tastier still, in their inner-child appeal, but at least I am undecided.
Yeah ok I hated the Wonder Bread. I really would have preferred that on a piece of crusty bread with some flavor.
Hubbard rocked my socks off. Roasted pork belly was delicious, but also easily done and relatively uncreative. Hubbard pulled of creativity and deliciousness in a bunch of different dishes.