Election Day Today!
We are into fall, a fantastic time of year. The only problem is it is getting so dark so early as we go back to Standard time. The tree colors have been outstanding.
Traveling Neighbors
Jerry and I did our road trip to Riggins Idaho. It was a great drive, lots of fall colors. We had a great time with our family. Meeting our great granddaughter was fun. We had a great anniversary dinner while we were visiting. We were served steelhead which was caught by our almost four-year-old great grandson: our grandson is holding a fish he caught with one of his clients. He has a fishing guide business in Riggins, I will put a flyer on the bulletin board in case anyone is interested in having a good time on the salmon river and catching some beautiful fish.
Andi and Drake went for a week to Chicago.
Andi says, “Because we’d never been there; is the reason we went to Chicago.” Also, Drake likes the song
lyric “I met a man who danced with his wife in Chicago”. We used “Road Scholar” to show us
the town. We arrived as the Chicago Marathon was ending. The city (and our hotel) was
flooded with lots of very happy competitors. We spent the first morning and afternoon at the
Chicago Art Institute. A comfortable bus took us from Wrigley Field to the Shedd Aquarium to
Greek Town, to University of Chicago and more. Each of its neighborhoods, 77 official ones,
even had large pots replanted each spring with flowers. Every neighborhood needs to see
flowers. Deciding years ago, that dumping their garbage into the Chicago River and thus into
their water source of Lake Michigan was the cause of typhoid & cholera they blocked off the
river and reversed its flow. (Really!) The river cruise explaining the architecture and engineering
Behind their many skyscrapers planted in the sandy soil along the riverbank was fascinating.
We had a Chicago Hot Dogs and chocolate cake at Portillo’s and Deep-Dish Pizza at Lou
Malnati’s. The final day we drove to Oak Park, went through Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and
studio, then walked the Oak Park neighborhood admiring the Prairie Style designs he created.
We rode the trains and the elevated. Good food, good people on the tour, a very enjoyable
Edy was again off to a business trip, this time to Santiago Chile. She had a wonderful time except for the long trip.
Restaurant Review
Daily Bread and Mercantile
306 S Main Street
Ellensburg, WA
We often take road trips to Montana or Idaho and when we do, we often stop in Ellensburg for lunch. In the past we always went to the Yellow Church but that is gone now. We found a neat little café named Daily Bread and Mercantile. They make their own bakery goods; they serve fresh sandwiches and soups. It is worth a stop if you need a good lunch, and you are in the neighborhood.
New in the neighborhood
Eden Garden Café
1437 NW Richmond Beach Road, Unit C
206-565-7333
Hours… 8:00 AM-7:00 PM
Located where the BBQ place has been in that stripmall, Eden Garden Cafe is a cozy Vietnamese spot serving up banh mi, boba, Vietnamese coffee, fruit teas, and smoothies.
Kaare submitted this
Book club was held at Bev’s home. The Women by Kirsten Hannah was discussed. Next meeting will be held at Carole’s and will be discussing The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali. A story about two friends from Iran. Let Carole know if you’re planning to attend or not.
Tip Du Jour
How many times have you sautéed garlic and onions to make a flavor base, only to find that the garlic has burned by the time the onions have softened?
There’s a simple fix that we routinely build into our recipes: Wait until the onions or other vegetables are almost completely softened—and then stir the garlic into the mix. Allow the garlic to cook for just 30 to 60 seconds before adding liquid or other ingredients to the pot
This is our best practice when cooking just about anything with minced garlic—from chili to pasta sauce to vegetable soup.
A minute is all it takes for the garlic to turn fragrant and for its raw bite and crunch to soften a little. If it goes much longer without the addition of liquid or other ingredients, there’s a good chance it will burn and turn acrid and bitter.
Why Garlic Burns More Readily Than Onions Do
One obvious reason you need to take more care when sautéing garlic is that if you’ve minced it, the smaller bits will burn more easily than bigger pieces of chopped onions. Garlic also contains much less water than onions, which must release their water before they can break down into sugars. And garlic contains more sugar, which starts to brown and then scorches as soon as it gets hot.
How Cutting Garlic Impacts Its Flavor
Garlic’s characteristic flavor comes from a compound called allicin, which is produced when the walls of garlic are broken down. The more you slice, chop, or crush garlic, the more allicin is produced and the more pungent the garlic will be.
Why Sautéing Garlic Makes It Taste More Complex
Heat softens that pungency by converting garlic’s raw-tasting compounds into mellower ones called polysulphides. And even just a minute’s exposure to the heat of a pan allows its sugars and amino acids to undergo the Maillard reaction, turning the garlic flavor complex and sweet. If you add raw garlic directly to a bubbling pot of stew or soup, it wouldn’t impart the same complexity to your dish.
Two Tips for Cooking with Minced Garlic
If you’re preparing a dish that includes sautéing both garlic and onions (or other vegetables that require softening), make sure to:
- Wait to add the garlic until the last 30 to 60 seconds of cooking these components
- Keep the heat moderate or low to avoid burning the garlic
A bonus perk to waiting: If you let cut garlic sit, more and more allicin will be produced and evolve into other compounds, making it taste more complex as well as stronger. Even a 10-minute rest before cooking will increase garlic’s complexity.
Information from American’s Test Kitchen
Recipe du Jour
Ridge family gumbo
When visiting Mom in her later years, she would always fetch a container of gumbo from the freezer to feed us on our arrival. She concocted this recipe from watching her mom, and I’m sure it was never written down before by anyone.
My sister Kathleen took a photo of this copy and sent it to me. I think it was found in my sister Gretchen’s home in Lake Charles, LA. The home was destroyed by two back-to-back hurricanes, hence the “bite” out of the rescue recipe. Kathleen made a few notations where she could figure out the missing words.
Mom was Cajun French but was in elementary school at a time (1917-1924) when classes were only taught in English in state schools…French speakers were a bit second class (hill billys in a land with no hills), and it was deemed necessary to know English in the 20th Century. Mom knew French since it was the language of her family and the community, but she grew up in an “English” world. Hence, she spelled “roux” as “rue”, never having studied French. In 1962 Mom’s youngest son, my brother Dan, was studying French in high school. The two of them had some animated discussions in French, trying to be understood by each other. It seems that Cajun French of the 1700s(?) is not quite the same as modern day French, or even like Canadian French.
When our family would visit with our Cajun relatives, my sisters and I would be exposed to French constantly. It was their language of choice, and we children were not intended to understand. If it was for us, it would be explained in English with the very nasal accent of French speakers.
My Cajun uncle finished LSU and ROTC just at the start of WWII. He was sucked into Officer Candidate School immediately and served in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy winding up in southern France at the war’s end. He said he could communicate with the French, with some difficulty, but he had the nasal part down okay.
Edythe, my loving wife, decided to make me some chicken and andouille sausage gumbo once. She worked on the roux for 30 minutes or more, with lots of stirring and no browning. In desperation we called my mom for help. Mom said, “Turn up the fahr, hon.”
Chicken Okra Gumbo (serves 4)
1 large fryer (chicken). Cut up chicken, salt and pepper.”
(A hen makes a better gumbo; double recipe, serves about eight.)
1 – 1 ½ kbs, Okra (cleaned and cut) To clean, wash and wipe with damp rag. Cut in small slices about ¼ inch thick.
½ or ¾ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped bell (green pepper
1 large fresh ripe tomato (peeled and chopped)
Shortening
Water
3 – 4 tablespoons flower
1 clove finely chopped garlic
1 stalk finely chopped celery
Bay leaves (3 or 4)
Cayenne pepper (dash)
Salt and pepper to taste
Chicken
Brown chicken (without flour) in ½ cup shortening in skillet, add one pint of hot water gradually to save chicken flavor. Pour juice in with chicken and put aside.
Rue
In same skillet (don’t need to wash), put about ¼ cup of shortening (or oil), add 3 or 4 level tablespoons of flour,.
Blend and stir constantly over medium low fire unit mixture is dark brown.
Add ¼ cup chopped onion and ¼ cup chopped green bell pepper.
Recipe submitted by David Ridge
Getting to Know You
Name– Doris Beck
Born and raised in Bellingham/ Ferndale, WA.
Family- I grew up on a dairy farm in Ferndale, WA. Living on a farm was very hands on with lots of chores. I learned how to do all kinds of things, how to drive a tractor and bale hay, raise a garden, put up dill pickles. Raise calves and was in 4-H taking my calf to the fair. It was a fun childhood and one that taught me the value of work and developed a work ethic.
I was the eleventh of twelve children. I had seven brothers and 4 sisters. About thirty-seven nieces and nephews.
My father was an immigrant from what is now the Ukraine, but from German heritage. My mother was born in South Dakota, her parents came from the same area as my father and his family. My parents along with six children moved to WA state in 1936.
Profession– Shortly after I finished high school, I had the opportunity to go to work for one of the best dentists in the country. He was a great teacher, and I was lucky enough to be in his employ for a few years. I moved to Seattle and continued to work in the dental field, working for some of the best dentists in the city. After fourteen years working as a dental assistant, I decided to try something different. I went to work for Cigna, a large insurance company as a liaison between the dental community and the insurance company. I worked for Cigna until they closed their office in Seattle. At that point I went back to work for one of the dentists I had worked for previously as a receptionist in his office until his retirement,
Jerry and I were married in 1985 and in 1993 we moved to Pt Townsend and built a house that Jerry had designed. It was a fun project, we pounded nails, and I got good at tying rebar. During this period, we moved to Ft. Lauderdale for two years. Then back again to Pt. Townsend. We moved back to the Seattle area in 2004 and rented a home in Lynnwood. We had purchased a condo in Edmonds which burned down a couple of months before we were scheduled to move into it. This is when we purchased our condo here.
Hobbies- I love to travel; my favorite city is Paris. I really enjoy reading; my favorite genre is World War 11 historical era books. I also enjoy cooking.
Moved into RMC– We moved into RMC in 2006, we bought our condo from Bob and Judy Terry.
We think RMC is one of the greatest places to live, we love the family like community, the way our neighbors car and look out for one another.
Something few folks know about me
My favorite flavor of Ice Cream is black licorice. The bad thing is it is very hard to find
Entertainment -TV
We found an interesting documentary on PBS about Big Cats; this is about three different variety of big cats in Africa. So far there have been 3 episodes.
Neighborhood News
There is talk in the neighborhood that a brew pub is going to be going into the building that was once the Wild Horse. I’m anxious to see what happens.
Edmonds Holiday Market
Edmonds Holiday Market kicked off the 10th year on November 2nd between 5th and Bell. It will be running Nov 2,9,16,23, Dec 7,14, and 21st. Market vendors offer a range of holiday gifts and specialty items including produce, food, wines, flowers and seasonal treats.
Richmond Beach Orcas
The Richmond beach orcas have migrated to storage for the winter. The orcas have disappeared for the winter. They were first put on display at the 2017 Strawberry Festival. I enjoy them, I hope they hold up so we can enjoy them in the summer season.
Updating Owners contact list
Jerry has been working on the new contact list for residents of RMC. He has been waiting for the closing of #209 to send it out. Please send him any updated information and he will add it to the list.
Great Book
The Last King of America, by Andrew Roberts. Not all of us realize that America had a King from the early 1600’s until we won the Revolutionary War in the late 1700’s
Hobgoblin Season
We had had three visitors for Halloween last night, it was fun to see them, since we have known all of them since they in Mahima’s case since she was barely a year and the other two since they were born. They are growing up to be wonderful young people.
Upcoming events
The annual Christmas party is coming up; it will be held in the Book Nook on Dec. 1st. It starts at about 5:00. It is always a fun event. Bring your favorite appetizer or dessert for all to share.
Bring some cash as we will have a kitty for a tip for Germai to thank him for doing such a great job of taking care of our building.
We will be putting up a sign-up sheet for what you want to bring to the event.