BVM....Day Two

Well....she's a bit on the "fuzzy" side, but growing!

Mary Jenison is turning 60!!!

Thursday is Mary's not-such-a-surprise party at the Lopez
Community Center...
5:30 to 8:30 pm, appetizer/finger food potluck
(looks like there's a heavy Thai influence...what a surprise!)

GROW YOUR OWN B.V.M.

Now anyone who knows me really well, knows that I have a "thang" goin' on with Guadalupe/B.V.M. and have surrounded myself with icons and pictures of her throughout my life. So the opportunity to grow my own BVM in the privacy of my own kitchen, was just too good to pass up!

I decided to keep a photo log of her growth (should take about 10 days to reach full maturity)...

... so here she is, still in the package, and then napping on the bottom of a large Pyrex measuring cup. (Only the best for our Lady G.!)













Day 1......

In Memory of Peter Bennett....

Today we said goodbye to dear sweet Peter Bennett, longtime Lopezian, and one of the most gracious men I've ever had the pleasure to meet. He leaves behind, his adoring wife Glenys, his son Tim and his wife Betsy, two terrific teen aged grand kids, Ezra and Una, and a community that is heartbroken at his passing.

The memorial was held at Center church, which was of course, packed to the rafters, with people standing outside, and in the vestry due to lack of seating. The service was short, sweet, to the point, and exactly how P. would've loved it!

People got up and told wonderful stories, cried, and spent the afternoon filling our hearts with the memory of his loving kindness, hospitality, dry British wit, fabulous bonhomie, and hidden supply of arguably the best Scotch Whiskey on Lopez! Afterwards, everyone went outside to share shortbread and raise glasses of great Scotch in Memory!

It's hard to think that he will not be coming into the Caffe every day, helping Glenys to the point of distraction, when she would start waving her (one) arm while saying "OOHHH Petah!!!! Stawp Fusssss-ing!!!" Or shaming him into leaving a dollar in the tip jar instead of a dime! I miss him terribly, and will remember him for the rest of my life.

Goodbye Peter....we love you.

Tour De Lopez 2009

Well....once again we have survived another Tour De Lopez in fine fashion! 1007 cyclists showed up, the day was cold with sun breaks, with the sun finally coming out for good at about 3pm. We actually love the Tour; it makes for a great day of business, and honestly the folks who attend are lovely....very laid back and just wanting to have a good time! Not like the late summer cyclists whom we call "The Yellow jackets".
I ran over to White Bear's for lunch, she's serving these wonderful new wraps, and they're only $5.95. I had an Asian chicken wrap with peanut sauce, and it was DEEE-vine! Went back over to the Caffe, and hit the ground running, the line was out the door, and the cups were lined up in a row of 15, waiting for drinks. Mary came in for the morning shift, and Suzanne finished out the day. Thank GOD we had 2 people behind the counter!


Ron was also busy at PSR, but it was much more fits-and-starts, so he and Sadie had a fairly mellow day. And of course there always HAVE to be people who cannot read signs.............Forcing us to become the hard-assed Bike sign Nazi's to uphold the rules. (I mean
really....wouldn't you think that putting up a sign that BEGS you to move your bike would do the job???? Hell no.)

Here Comes.......

TOUR DE LOPEZ!

POWER OUTAGE.....

Last night the power was out for three hours, in five Northwest counties. here's what it looked like:
















We played Rummikub by candlelight....... (but you can't see us, 'cause the power was out!)

A Slow Thursday at the Caffe!

ON these "pre-season" slow weekdays, we have to really work hard to keep ourselves amused.....
....such as deciding to take pictures of ourselves taking pictures of ourselves....well you get the idea...however lame it may seem, it makes us laugh, and that's what counts!


I love this poster for the Lopez Farmer's Market. Of course it didn't win the poster competition, too edgy for staid ol' Lopez, but it should have!
It was created by Lopezian Matthew Rabel, and we have them for sale at the Caffe for $6.00 each, a steal if you ask me!

IT WAS A PERFECT DAY....

For big ol' cups of bittersweet hot chocolate, Cafe La Boheme style! (photo by Tracy Cottingham)

KIRA IS BACK...(and there's gonna' be trouble)

Yippee! Kira is back on the deck, so ya' better watch out! After recovering from her shoulder surgery, Kira had her first day of work at Holly B's. today. We set up an unofficial meeting of the "Tourist Trash Talk" Society with Kira, myself, and Odin from Bucky's so we could ALL get up to speed on the daily doings of "The Deck".And needless to say we are all committed to hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil, for the rest of the season! (yeah.....right.)

What a tough two weeks!

I've been pretty out of touch, we've lost two more long-time Lopezians. Last week, it was our beloved Peter Bennett a.k.a. "Petah". That was an unbelievable shock, and Glenys, his wife of 55 years is needless to say, absolutely devastated. I am so sad, Peter was one of the kindest funniest men I've ever had the pleasure to know. He was kind of like every one's favorite British uncle. His Passing has left a huge void in our community. His memorial is this Sunday, and I've been asked to speak....I just hope I can hold it together to be able to do so.

Then just two days ago, we heard that Sharon Blake had passed away. We have known her kids, Shawni and Johnny since they were small, and her partner Wallace, and we love them all. What a tragedy. She was very young.

More signs of spring on Lopez Island....The weather has been unpredictable, cold and cloudy one minute, and 20 minutes later the sun is out and it's 65 degrees. Go Know. The trees are finally starting to green up and that is a relief. Ron brought Sadie out for a walk over to the Cafe and she had a good long drink and promptly fell asleep on the deck.

LUNCH AT BUCKY'S

A really terrific Chicken Teriyaki burger with those amazing fries (yup......it IS the kosher salt!)

A MOODY MONDAY...

Today was one of those typical April days, where the weather was all over the map. Cold and a bit dreary, but with lots of sun breaks, and magnificent cloud formations. Also today was the anniversary of the death of Abraham Lincoln, so a few of us met down at the KLOI/Radio free Lopez studio. to enact a commemorative reading.















The reading is based on a piece currently being performed by Sam Waterston in honor of Lincoln's 200th birthday. Our director was Carol Steckler, one of the founders of KLOI, and she provided a partial script. The readers were myself, John Hammond, Rhea Miller, with Carol reading the narration. If you wish to hear this piece you can do so at: www.kloi.org , and look under the show on Monday called "Community Calender. Carol assures me that the full audio of the program will be posted soon!

Ty Returns!

Another great surprise today was the return of Ty Hirss, (a.k.a TyBo, TyKwanDo, and Ty one on!), Holly B. and Andre's oldest son. Now we know the party can REALLY begin! Ty spent the winter in Aspen teaching skiing with his 2 brothers, but comes back every summer to help in the Bakery.

Welcome home Ty, we've missed you, and are glad to see you back once again!

MORE SIGNS OF SPRING......

Woke up this morning to gray and dreary signs....and yet........everywhere are increasing signs of Springs arrival on Lopez Island. Right outside our front door is this planter featuring a curious porcelain figurine of a male ballet dancer we found at the dump. Surrounding him is a planting of Vinca, which today decided to burst out into bloom!
Jumped in the Rover to head into the Village, and Lo and Behold, the flamingoes have returned to the Island! For a few weeks they took up residence in front of Holly B's and Caffe La Boheme, but last night mysteriously migrated in front of Grace Church. Clearly a blatent attempt to muscle in on the whole Pascal Lamb, Easter Bunny thing.

Ron had left the house early this morning, so I ran into him walking Sadie, right in front of the field where the new Lopez Village Market will be built this spring/summer.


Pulled into the parking lot at the Caffe at about 9:30 or so, and another surprise! Claire and Will Dennis, two of my favorite people in the world, are here from California! Their parents have had a summer home on the island for over 20 years, so I have known both these fine young people since birth. Claire had three friends in tow, all part of the very first official "road trip" to Lopez without the parents! (remember those days???) Claire is off to Yale next year, and astonishingly, Will has shot up to about 6 feet tall, towering over both myself and his sister. I have been warning Claire to be nice to him for a few years now, 'cause one day soon he was going to be tall enough to kick her ass! Well, let me just say that this morning, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth....if you catch the drift!

Later on in the day, The DiBona Girls came to the deck to have their first almond butterhorn of the season, washed down with cider and chocolate milk. The pastries were almost as big as their heads, but both Ren (R.) and Kai (L.) managed to polish them off >>>









Lorrie Harrison and Julie Van Camp at the Caffe discussing Julie's upcoming book tour, for the release of her new Historical Memoir called "Searching For Ichabod". Lorrie has written a number of non-fiction pieces, most notably "Kindred Spirits" the profiles of 32 islanders that came out a few years back. I'll post more on Julie's wonderful new memoir as the release date approaches.

Just another Day at Caffe La Boheme....

Holly B. came over to say that she was cooking one of her famous Fritatta, the one she makes for her wonderful baking and sales staff. The recipe will follow, I promise.



Ava came in for a visit, she's our next door neighbor, and her Mom Kira is one of Holly B's longtime counter people. Eva is a kick-ass kinda' gal (I secretly call her "Queen of the
Effing Universe) and you can read more about this wonderful child (and her Julia Robert's look-alike mom) at Kira's blog: http://kirabell-acrazy-beautifullife.blogspot.com/.



After the usual morning 7 to 11 a.m. rush, things quieted down and I started eyeing the amaretti cookie tin with unguarded lust! I stayed strong and didn't give in however!

"CAUSE EVERYONE NEEDS A LITTLE GANESH NOW AND THEN...

"OVER THE RIVER..." Returns!

" Over The River And Through The Woods", the wonderful comedy by Joe DiPietro, is returning to the Lopez Center for one night only; April 18th 2009 at 7:30p.m.

We will be presenting this encore evening for the purpose of recording the play for KLOI, 102.9 FM Lopez Island. The evening will be a fundraiser for the radio station, so admission will be by donation only. Don't miss this final opportunity to be a part of this heartwarming and hysterically funny theatrical presentation!

Joel's Birthday......

Joel turned 31 today, and in fine Lopez Island fashion, had an Odlin Park-ty. The weather was perfect, the food great, lots of kids and dogs, and best of all....Joel cooked all the food!! What a guy!

IT'S BEGINNING TO FEEL LIKE SPRING......

Whether it's Holly B's on a Sunday Morning....



or annoying cyclists ignoring signs..

or lunch on the deck at Bucky's....

You just KNOW that longer sunny days on Lopez Island are right around the corner!

Local Billionaire Visits the Cafe!

When Jan Lewis (pictured at right), the oldest (think trombones) living Barista in Washington state started work yesterday, little did she know that shortly after I took this picture, she would be whipping up at 16 oz. Breve for one of the richest men on the planet Earth! Yes Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and property owner on Lopez, stopped in for a hot drink. Now Forbes Magazine has recently announced that Mr. Allen has lost almost 40% of his net worth in this latest stock market freefall, so Jan was more than happy to extend credit to him, when he discovered he did not have the $4.50 to pay for the drink! Yes it's true.....Paul Allen the Gazillionaire was "on the books" at the Caffe La Boheme!

JUST REMEMBER

When the going get tough just put on the "big girl" shoes and head into town!

Alfajores how to......

OK, so the alfajores that we took to the studio-warming last night were a HUGE hit, we actually had to hide some so the host & hostess would get to try them later on.

This recipe comes from the pastry chef at the Four Seasons Resort in Carmelo, Uruguay. We spent a fantastic 5 days there in November of 2007, and between laying on the beach or at the pool, having any number of Spa treatments, Ron managed to squeeze in a baking class devoted to these little Argentine gems. If you are lucky enough to travel to that part of the world, look around in Buenos Aires for the Havana Alfajore Shops. They are in most major shopping areas, as well as the duty free shops in the International Airport (which is convenient for snagging a few boxes on your way out of the country.) Ron loves the chocolate covered ones, and I am partial to the meringue covered variety! OK so here is the recipe....it's a tad on the labor intensive side, but SOOOOO worth it.

ALFAJORES DE ARGENTINA

17.8 oz. Flour
10.7 oz butter, softened
17.8 oz. cornmeal
1.7 oz. baking powder
14.2 oz. sugar
6 eggs
Dulce de Leche (see below)
shredded sweetened coconut


To make the Dulce de Leche:

Preheat oven to 425. F, pour 2 cans (18 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into a glass pie pan or shallow baking dish, stir in a dash of sea salt.

Set the pie pan within a larger pan, add hot water to the larger pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the pie pan. Cover the pie pan snugly with tin foil and bake for 1.25 hrs, checking occasionally during baking to maintain water level.

Once the Dulce de Leche is nicely browned and caramelized, remove from oven and let cool. When cool, whisk until smooth. Store in fridge until ready to use. Warm GENTLY in microwave before using.

For The Cookies:

preheat oven to 375 F.

Sift the sugar and add the butter. Then add the eggs one at a time. Mix all together with the flour to make a paste. Press the paste softly until you get a dough. Let the dough rest in the fridge for a few minutes.

Knead and stretch the dough as thin as possible. Cut out disk shapes, and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until slightly tan.

Spread dulce de leche on one cookie and top with another cookie, and finish by rolling edge in coconut.

Old Folks Having Fun.....

'cause sometimes you just have to keep 'em on their toes!

Doi Supthep

Doi Supthep (pronounced doy soop-TEPP) is one of the holiest Wats overlooking the city of Chiang Mai. Driving out of the city you go past Chiang Mai University, then a winding road takes you to nearly the top of the mountain to the Temple. (Continuing past the temple for another 10 minutes brings you to BhuBhing Palace, the summer residence of the beloved royal family.)

Doi Supthep is, in a word, breathtaking. The temple is about 5 acres in size. Golden spires surround you and every corner is blessed with a plethora of gold leaved Buddhas. It's like walking into a golden wonderland. In one of the side temples is a copy of the most famous Buddha in Thailand, the Emerald Buddha of Wat Mahatat in Bangkok. (the emerald Buddha, only about 3 feet tall, is actually carved from a single piece of green jade.) Everyone visiting Doi Supthep treats the temple with utmost reverence, removes shoes upon entering, and offers incense and flowers to many of the enclosed temples within the compound. A very magical place.

Chiang Mai, the flower of Northern Thailand....

Chiang Mai, the historical capital of Siam, lies about a 1 hour plane ride from Bangkok. Being in the foothills with a higher elevation, the city enjoys a climate that is quite temperate compared to the Southern Plain. Chiang Mai is a city of about 1.2 million throughout the greater area, but the vibe is definitely more "Bellingham" than big city! The city is full of wonderful crafts people and studios, producing the majority of Thailand's silk products and Celadon pottery. With a substantial Ex-Pat presence, it is the perfect city to vacation in. Surrounded by mountains containing some of the most beautiful Wats (temples) in the country, the vibe is distinctly spiritual and energizing. Above is a shot of the Wararat flower market, just outside the old city gates, and flanking the Mah Ping River. Fresh flowers of any kind are available every morning, and if you get hungry, the rest of the Wararat Market is right around the corner, with a gazillion food stalls.

And Speaking Of Food......

I would like to pay homage to a little slice of paradise on a plate called "Kanom Krok", a very common street food item found all over Thailand. These little puppies are kind of like a Thai version of the Scandnavian Ebelskiver; essentially a fresh coconut creme-pudding- beignet-sort of thing. Made in special cast iron pans, these are best eaten hot form the pan, and the cost is only about 50 cents for a dozen or so. The special pans are available online (just google Kanom Krok pan) as are many versions of the basic recipe like this one:

KANOM KROK:

Khanom krok has two layers--first the rice flour mix is cooked, followed by the sweet coconut milk topping. Too much heat will burn the bottom layer, so it might take a bit of practice to get the pan temperature just right, and a nice crispy bottom. Our recipe is very simple, and delicious!

Ingredients (bottom layer)
1 cup rice flour
2 cups water
1/3 cup steamed (cooked) jasmine rice
1/2 cup grated, dried coconut (available in the baking section of most supermarkets)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients (topping)
1 cup coconut cream
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 teaspoon salt
1 green onion (scallion) chopped (optional)

Method (bottom layer)
Mix 1 cup rice flour with 1 cup water in a bowl. Mix well, and let it sit for at least an hour (overnight is ok).

In a blender, mix 1/3 cup cooked jasmine rice with 1/2 cup grated coconut, add the salt, then and add 1 cup water. Blend together until finely mixed. Pour this into the bowl of rice flour and water that's been sitting. Mix well by hand. Set aside.

Method (topping)
Mix coconut cream, sugar and salt in a bowl until dissolved. If you decide to use green onion, add it now.

Cooking the Khanom Krok
Heat the Kanom Krok pan over medium heat, and brush with vegetable oil when hot. Using a spoon, add the bottom layer mixture into each hole so it's about 2/3 full. Wait a moment, then pour about 2 teaspoons of the topping mixture into each hole to fill it up. Cover the pan with a lid (any lid will do, just set it on top of the pan), and cook until the cups turn slightly brown and crisp around the edge (about 8-10 minutes, or a bit more). Remove each cake, and serve warm. Usually the cakes are served as two (one placed on top of the other as shown below). Enjoy!

ps.... the pan and some of the ingredients are available online from www.importFood.com

ARROI MAK MAK KAP!
(Very very delicious!)

Bucky's Returns!

Now that Bucky's Island Grill is open for the season, it feels like spring/summer/the season, is just around the corner! So of course Ron and I put Sadie in the Rover and headed on down for dinner. The place was jammed which was to be expected for the first night, and of course the BIG decision facing us was....A.) Fish Tacos (a Bucky's classic) or B.) a burger with fries...or hey! what about C.) Fish Tacos with a SIDE ORDER of fries. Now to those of us who live here, Bucky's Grill makes what are arguably the best french fries on the West Coast, if not the planet! On opening day, most of the High School students make a beeline for Bucky's, and they just can't make the fries fast enough. I don't know what it is that makes them so dang good....but they're closer to authentic Paris Pommes Frites, than any other fry on the island. Maybe it's the good quality oil, or the Kosher salt finish, all I know is we are addicted, and the fries have become one of the true "benchmarks" of Summer on Lopez Island. (along with White Bears' FAAAABULOUS house dressing at the Love Dog Cafe!)

The Alfajores are finished!

Here is what Alfajores are supposed to look like in the best of all possible worlds. And I must say that the cookies that Ron just finished are pretty damn close, as well as delicious! Finding Dulce de Leche on Lopez island proved to be not possible, so he just made his own by baking 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk in a 400 degree oven for about an hour and a half. It came out perferctly! We are taking these to a "Studio-warming" tomorrow night, and the friends who are hosting are gonna' be knocked out! They spent a month in Buenos Aires shortly before we went, and became addicted (as we were also) to these Argentinian treats.....

attack of the FURMINATOR!

Wow...it finally feels like spring today. After a freezing cold week, including a small spate of the dreaded "snow", the sun came out this afternoon. Like moles digging out from under the lawn, the village was full of Lopezians squinting at the strange yellow ball in the sky, and reaching for sunglasses to ward off the glare from people's lily-white-jesus-what-a-long-winter skin! I got home at about 4:30, and Ron was/still is in the kitchen struggling to make "Alfajores", the Argentine national cookie. I decided it might be best to make myself scarce, so I grabbed Sadie, our 9 year old yellow lab, and went out on the deck to "furminate" her. I just wanna' say, whoever invented the Furminator, can have my vote for President. What an ingenious tool it is! you gently run it over your dog's coat, and it removes a veritable PLETHORA of undercoat! The bottom line is that you may only have to vacuum once a week, instead of every other day. We found it on Amazon, after being referred by another dog owner. We love it!