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!

On Cold & Dreary Northwest days.....

It is always good to remember that other places in the world, the sun is shining, the water is warm, and summer just goes on and on.....

This is a photo of Ko Podah off the coast of Krabi province in Southern Thailand......and folks wonder why we want to retire to Thailand in 9 years ??? uh...Hellooooo!

Tomorrow It All Starts again.....

So here it is the last day of March, and tomorrow Holly B's Bakery opens for the season, and here we go on another spin of the Tourism merry-go-round! Although the weather is mostly still grey and cold, we have seen our first spandex cycling pants of the season. Bucky's Grill opens on Friday, and for those of us who rightly believe that the Fries there are the BEST on the planet, it is a red letter day!

I found this terrific photo of Lopez on the web, I like the "hand-tint" coloring aspect of it...it conveys some of the mystery and changeable nature of the island.

Life On Lopez

"So what's it like to live on a small island....Is there anything to do???"

I cannot tell you how many times a day we Lopezians get asked those questions. What's it like...hmmmm....well it's wonderful and frustrating, sometimes peaceful and quiet, but NEVER dull. We live our lives, go to work every day, see friends and neighbors all day long, take our dogs for walks on the beach, hang out at coffee shops and the Library. We have dances, concerts, plays, lectures, and movie nights. We curse the ferry system, while thanking our lucky stars that we can live in a beautiful setting that's hard to get to. We hunger for any kind of Asian food, especially sushi! We pay our bills, and nurture our kids and senior citizens. We grouse about the weather, be it too hot, too cold, too rainy, or too grey. We read voraciously, and our library and bookstore are always full of clients. We read theNew York Times, both online, and in-hand. We laugh and grieve, sometimes at the same time. We have the most amazing potlucks on the planet. It's just...well....life.

on a small island in the middle of an inland sea....

What a winter....after reading my friend Kira's blog, I figured it was time to get off my ass and start blogging as well. So much heartache these past few months, so much loss. And of course the older we get, the more prevalent it is. Thank god for the love and support of a small community of like-minded folks....we all prop each other up in these trying times. When a community like ours loses so many friends in a short period of time, it feels like the end of the world, but we all put extra effort in working through these troubling times, and in the end emerge stronger, with greater sense of purpose and resolve.