Food from India and Beyond

Our favorite restaurant is in a small space in Kirkland tucked into a little mall next to an organic grocery store. We have been going there for the wonderful Indian food for over 15 years. Our visit a couple of evenings ago was a real treat--we ordered tropical iced tea to start, and there was no need to even look at the menu. We always know what we want even before we get there!

We started with an order of Garlic Naan, a tasty, hot flatbread slathered in butter and garlic. We added the Chutney Trio to this, and it was fun trying the coriander chutney, the mango chutney, and the tomato chutney. It added a lot of flavor the the bread. While we were enjoying the naan, we ordered our dinner.

First up was the Major Grey Chicken Curry over pulao, a highly seasoned curried rice with pan-fried onions on the top. The Major Grey curry is the most popular dish in the house--it's made from mango chutney in a rich cream sauce. Someone once asked me what Major Grey ever did to deserve having a curry named after him. I've often pondered an answer to that question!

Next, the Coriander Ginger Chicken arrived, served on a bed of pulao. It's a large portion of chicken medallions grilled with coriander, and the flavor is incredible. Paired with the curried rice, it's a great dish.

We enjoyed the whole meal (as always!), and I know we'll come back soon, perhaps to try something else. We always mention that it would be fun to try something else, but secretly, we know that these are our favorite dishes, and it's unlikely we would trade the security of a perfectly-prepared Indian dish for the unknown. Brave food warriors we are not.

A Child In the Garden

My five-year-old granddaughter Kaila was actively involved in planting her first garden last year. She was responsible for planting all of the vegetable seeds that were sown, and she busily weeded between the rows last summer, keeping her crops neat and organized.

This year, she wasn't around a lot to do the planting, so I carefully got the heirloom seeds into the ground and took care of the weeding. Last week, she joined me for a day during my vacation and helped me with the garden. She had new garden gloves, and quickly got to work looking at the peas and beans, and deciding what everything was and when it would all be ready. She seemed to remember quite a bit about her experience last year, and enjoyed this year's progess of the plants.

She'll be over next weekend to help me pick apples, and we'll make applesauce and apple pies for our Labor Day barbecue. I'm hoping she'll one day enjoy gardening as much as I do, and I'll add to her gardening memories each year as we try new varieties of vegetables in our quest for the perfect garden!

Flowers from the Farmer's Market

Every Saturday, I get up, eat breakfast, and head down to the Farmer's Market in Woodinville. They have a very small market, but the flower stands are wonderful, and the fruit and vegetables are all grown locally in the Woodinville and Snohomish Valleys. It's a great way to start the weekend, and I come home each time with two large bouquets for my French pine dining room table and my living room coffee table.

This week, a white bouquet with blue accents graces the living room, and the arrangement for the dining room table is a vibrant mixture of yellows and oranges, reminscent of French textiles and linens, and summery tablecloths. The dahlias are my favorites, and take center stage all week long.

I'll miss the market flowers and produce as the season winds down, but I'll have other things to grace my home as the holidays approach.

The Shade Garden

For many years, the southwest corner of our property was a spot we didn't know what to do with. The previous owner of our place used this spot to dump yard waste and rocks that had been dug up in the yard. It took me a full two years to sift through it all, take the refuse to the dump, and move the rocks to a pile which became flowerbed borders and garden boundaries. It was backbreaking work!

Finally, the area was clean and as empty as a blank canvas. There was a birch tree coming right out of the middle of the pile of dirt, so I made that the focal point of the area. Year after year, I planted shrubs and flowers there, and by the middle of summer, they had all withered away.

At that point, we did some research on shade gardens, and after more months of bringing in three-way garden soil and bark, we were ready to buy some plants for this 'shade' area (this spot gets less than three hours of sun per day). A trip to Flower World yielded two Weigela and five Heucheria, a small lilac volunteer, and a transplated Honey Locust sprig that's turning into a viable tree this year.

I received an antique plow from a school friend, and I positioned it beneath the birch tree, hung a couple of birdhouses and a hanging begonia basket, and stood back to admire the new space. The project was a long one, and we learned a lot about finding the right plants and flowers for the existing conditions in this area of the pasture. Our shade garden was beautiful this year! It was worth the wait.

The View From the Gazebo

As Summer is winding down, I find myself spending more time in the gazebo, lounging in my canvas lounge chair or in my newly-discovered wicker chairs (a great find last weekend at an antique shop nearby). My glass chandelier (bought several years ago during a vacation in Winthropo) hangs delicately from the apex of the gazebo, and I light the candle in it after the sun goes down. From the gazebo, I have a perfect view of my shade garden to the west, the house to the east, and nothing but lovely trees and flowers to the south and north. It's the best spot in the whole place, and many a summer novel or a paperback book was read there this summer.

The big black labrador we have loves to spend time there, too, rolling in the cool grass on hot days and just relaxing with me. She follows the sounds of the birds and a bold squirrel as they talk to us from the trees. A cool breeze is always present, and when the house gets too hot from a day of 90-degree weather, the gazebo is a great place to eat dinner or enjoy a cool glass of Perrier.

Long after the cool weather chases us indoors by a roaring fire, I'll remember my favorite summer days outside in my summer shelter. As someone once said, the two most beautiful words in the English language are "summer afternoon".

Italian Plum Tree

About 5 years ago, we bought an Italian Plum tree (Prunus domestica) to add to our small orchard of five trees. It was a tree that had a lot of childhood memories for me, as we had one in our yard growing up. My Mom would make plum jam and can the beautiful, purple fruit. It would turn an incredible purple color once it was preserved. We'd enjoy the bounty of that tree all winter long.

This tree ("Fellenberg") is a late bloomer, and it takes it 3-5 years to bear fruit. This is the first year we had more than a half dozen plums on the tree, and we dragged out the ladder this afternoon to pick as many of the plums as we could reach.

The Italian Plum tree will bear fruit for 15-20 years, and provide frosm 3-5 bushels of fruit. I can't wait for future year's crops, but this year I'll make several batches of jam and give them as gifts in the fall and the holiday season.

Each tree is an adventure unto itself. This one was worth waiting the five years for the first harvest.

The First Day of Vacation

This morning was the first day of a week-long August vacation, and one I've looked forward to all year. The weather is starting out just as I hoped it would--clear, blue skies and cool temperatures in the 70's. It will be perfect for all the plans that are swimming around in my head. What should I do first?

After a brisk bike ride and walking the dog, I brewed a perfect cup of Starbucks Pike Place Blend and took it out on the deck to savor and enjoy. I love the unhurried pace of time away from work, and as I sipped the rich, spicy brew, I could hear the birds sing and the squirrels chatter.

I'm primed now and ready to leisurely review my list of things to accomplish this week. I love vacations!