A New Pie Safe

A pie safe, also called a pie cupboard, pie chest, kitchen safe, and meat safe, is a piece of furniture designed to store pies and other food items. This was a normal household item before iceboxes came into regular use. It was considered an important part of the American household starting in the 1700's and continuing through the 1800's.

The pie safe was used to store not only pies, but also meat, bread, and other perishables, protecting them from vermin and insects.

With the launch of Maltby Pie Company, we needed a place to store baked pies for the first 24 hours after baking.  This lovely little pine pie safe is perfect for the storage of our pies until we deliver them to our clients.

 

 

Kaila and Flower World

Kai and I spent Friday together while the guys went golfing in Sultan.  We started out with breakfast at the Maltby Café, and then drove down the road a half mile and walked through Flower World.  There were lots of chickens and goats out on Friday, and we had fun walking through their little yards and making up names for them all!

We made pizza for lunch when the guys came back, and had a great visit while we made plans for the Labor Day barbecue here at our place in Maltby.

 

 

 

 

West Hylebos Wetlands Park in Federal Way

We went on an outing with our friends Saturday afternoon to West Hylebos Wetlands Park in Federal Way.  It's an incredible wetlands area with an interpretive hike of less than one mile, and it was one of the most beautiful short walks I have taken in a long time.

The Historical Society of Federal Way was also involved in the research and the writing of the history of two of Seattle's Denny cabins that were taken apart and re-built at the West Hylebos Wetlands Park a few years ago.  It was a great place to spend the afternoon on a beautiful summer day, savor the beauty of the water and forest, and review the history of one of Seattle's most prominent founding families.

 

 

 

Dahlias at a Roadside Stand

On our way back from Lake Goodwin today, there was a lovely little flower stand where dahlias were being sold for $3 a bunch.  I grabbed three bunches of these colorful beauties, and they look great on the dining room table at home.  Perhaps next year I'll have grown enough dahlias to have a cutting garden and bring some of them into the house for bouquets.  This year, I didn't have the heart to cut any of them, as they looked so beautiful out in the yard.

 

 

 

Wenberg State Park and Lake Goodwin

For many years, my parents took our whole family (including my grandpa Ernest) camping most weekends in the summertime.  Our favorite place was Wenberg State Park (on Lake Goodwin) in Stanwood.  It's a short 40-minute drive from Maltby, and it was a perfect day for a ride and an afternoon of remembering the fun times my family had when I was growing up.

The park is virtually unchanged since the last time I was there, and I could still remember our favorite campsite and the patch of grass where we would play baseball with my dad.  The lake is clear and looked very pristine and blue today, and the swimming area was filled with local people enjoying the last week of August. 

I used to take my son Dave camping there when he was small, and I'd pack our little tent and his two-wheeler bike and throw everything into the back of my little red Datsun pickup truck. I'll have to take my granddaughter there so I can say that five generations of our family have been there.

 

 

 

 

A Solitary Sunflower

I ordered a packet of sunflowers this year, and the plant is growing strong and tall.  I'm not sure if there will enough time left in this season for the flower to form and bloom.  We shall see.

Scarlet Runner Beans

Each year, I plant Scarlet Runner Beans on the north side of the solar woodshed.  They grow up to the roof of the shed and spread out over the entire expanse of the northern outside wall.  This year, I also planted another crop of these beans against my neighbor's fence on my side, next to the tomato plants.  These plants combined have created a veritable mass of greenery punctuated with scarlet flowers, and it's lovely to walk by the shed and see such a profusion of vegetables.

 

 

The Last Two Dahlias

My last two types of dahlias finally opened up this week!  They are more subdued in color and size, but they are still lovely.  See "Seattle" and "Café au Lait" below.

"Café au Lait"

"Seattle"

 

 

Pie Scene

I love this trompe l' oeil and the kitchen beyond it that decorates a wall at the Grange Café in Duvall. I am going to contact the artist and ask him if I can use this image for the logo of my Maltby Pie Company!

The Garden Shed

The garden shed/cabin is three years old this year!  It's incredible how much this little building has added to the ambience of our property--it's a 'go-to' place for quiet and solitude, a party hut/wine bar in the summer, a place to read my Master Gardener books, and it's filled with family heirlooms and my special gardening books and antique implements.

It's a place to relax into canvas chairs fitted with antique pillows and read a summer novel.  It's always cool in the shade of the large Douglas Firs overhead.

Summer Squash

I have two very small summer squash plants that had to be moved from the garden to another location near the raspberry patch.  They weren't getting enough sun in the garden.

They have tripled in size in the last two weeks, and it looks as if we will have several lovely yellow squash before the end of the summer growing season.

Picking Wild Blackberries

Two types of wild blackberries grow in Western Washington--the Evergreen variety and Himalaya variety.  They are both from Europe, and are on the Noxious Weed and Invasive Species list.  Efforts to eradicate them in the Pacific Northwest have not been successful.

Maltby Park has a large area of the Himalayan Blackberries, which create huge, dense thickets.  The berries themselves are in profusion, and we've had three trips to the park to pick them for jam (16 jars) and two blackberry pies.

You've really got to be committed to the beautiful flavor and color of these berries, because you've got to wade through grass and thorns to pluck the fruit off the canes one berry at a time (but it's SO worth it!).

 

 

 

 

Pickling

The process of "pickling" is big this year, and it's very easy to pickle just about any type of vegetable, which are now in abundance.  Also, the simple pickling method does not involve canning in the usual sense, as the vegetables are not subjected to the traditional hot water processing on the stove.

All you need to do is select the type of vegetable you'd like to use, such as carrots, red onions, asparagus, or beans.  A simple brine can be made from apple cider vinegar, water, kosher salt, and some spices or herbs.  Simply heat the brine, and pour over the vegetables.  Let cool for one hour, then store in the frig for one-three months.

These types of pickled condiments are great on meat, appetizers, sandwiches, and salads.  The process of fermentation is an ancient art, and modern medicine is finding that it is beneficial to our digestive health.

Dahlia Update

Well, it looks like all of the 11 dahlias we planted earlier this spring are going to make it and bloom!  This is a real coup for our first year of growing these unusual and magnificent flowers.  Next year, I'm replacing all of my vegetable garden space with dahlia beds!

I've added the names of each type of dahlia for the record here.  Memorize them--there'll be a test! :)


"Swirly Burly" Dahlia

"Bodacious" Dahlia

"Snoho Doris", a ball form in red/bronze.

  

 

 

 

 

The History of Barn Quilts

Barn quilts are painted quilt squares-usually fashioned on boards and then mounted on a barn or other building. While cloth quilts are usually made up of a series of squares of the same pattern placed together, a barn quilt is almost always a single square.

The pattern for a particular barn quilt may be chosen for myriad reasons. Often the barn quilt is a replica of a painted quilt that resides on the property or honors a loved one. A pattern may be selected because of its name--Corn and Beans is popular among farmers. Sometimes, the barn quilt is simply one whose pattern is appealing to either its creators or its owners.

Last week, I reached out to an artist in Ohio that makes custom barn quilts.  I picked out a pattern called Star Puzzle, an intricate design with several colors.  Becky, the artist, started my quilt made of wood, and is keeping me updated on its progress (when it was painted, drying time, etc.).  It's a fascinating process, and I will be mounting the barn quilt on the west side of my Maltby home.

It should arrive next week, and I'll capture it on the Slow Life blog.

Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys...

Well, you can take the cowboy out of Wyoming, but you can't take the Wyoming out of the cowboy!

Here's an 'official' Stetson hat we bought in Yakima a couple of weeks ago.  It's been a great hat to wear in our hot summer weather this year, and it's certainly getting a lot of good use.  Plus, the bonus is that I get a lot of great Wyoming stories now, and they are SO much more believable when they are told with this hat in view.  Hee-haw!

Trip to Yakima Last Week

Last week, we loaded up the dog and drove to Yakima.  My husband was raised in Sheridan, Wyoming, and he misses the hot weather and the desert's stark and powerful beauty.  I hadn't been there for over 30 years, so this was the perfect three-day getaway.

The weather was 102 degrees when we got there, so we really got a dose of summer once we crossed over Snoqualmie Pass.  We had reservations at a cottage on Sunland Vineyard, and I lived the country life for three days in a restored cottage with a wraparound porch, a pond, outbuildings, two Jack Russell terriers, and a cat named Tuxedo. There was a cottage flower garden, and lemon trees on the property.

A new Stetson hat came back to Maltby with us, and a new cowboy was born!  Stay tuned for this new adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wild Backberry Pies

Last week, I drove over to Maltby Park to pick wild blackberries.  It has been years since I've picked berries and made jam and pies with these wonderful berries.

The park was loaded with blackberry vines, and there were so many berries to pick!  Others had been there before me to create paths into the thickest part of the vines, so I picked about six cups in about 20 minutes.  I immediately processed the berries, and finished up with 7 jars of blackberry freezer jam.

Yesterday, we picked another six cups and it was enough for two blackberry pies.  We saved one for ourselves (topped with Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream from Maltby), and delivered one to our pastor and her husband last night as a housewarming gift.

Nothing tastes as good as fresh blackberries at the height of the summer season!

Chutney Sampler

It was a Shamiana dinner night last Saturday, and we arrived in Kirkland in beautiful evening sunlight.  It's our favorite dining place of all time!

We had our usual dinner of Coriander Ginger Chicken and Major Grey Chicken Curry, with naan and the chutney sampler.  This is a great appetizer, and it prepares your palate for the great variety of spices that arrive in our entrees.

This evening, they had a mango chutney (house special, used in many of their dishes), a tomato-mustard chutney, and a coriander-hot pepper chutney.  It was wonderful on our hot garlic naan and on our chicken.

Sundress #4

Still working on the countdown for my sundress collection!  I've been way too busy traveling and cooking and making pies and jam that I haven't had time to don a dress!  Ah, Summer!  It's mah-velous!

Here is a lovely dress I bought at the Woodinville Farmer's Market about 8 years ago.  The fabric is vibrant, with shades of navy blue wound around the green hues.  It's long and elegant, and very comfortable on hot days.  I have matching sandals I bought years ago in San Diego.

Baking Bread, A La James Beard

James Beard published a classic cookbook in 1972, so we got it down off the shelf this week and made white bread.  It's an exciting adventure to put simple ingredients together in a glass bread bowl and see them transform into one of the main staples of life.  And with no chemicals or additives!

Mixing, kneading, first rising, greasing the bread pan, then another rising, then a complicated process of baking involving two oven temperatures over a period of 45 minutes.  And voila!  A beautiful, fragrant loaf emerges from the depths of the oven.

The week was punctuated by thick buttered toast in the mornings with homemade blackberry and raspberry jams, and lunch time centered around slabs of bread with turkey and pesto mayonnaise.  Bread baking will be added to our weekly routine, adding to the Slow Life here in Maltby.