Life's a Banquet
'...and most poor fools are starvin to death!' ~Mame

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

I am so excited to report that we have our next Day Trip/Farm Tour scheduled. It will be Sunday, August 1 at Finn River Farm & Cidery, which I told you about last week and I can hardly wait! We will have pizza dough from their milled flour, toppings from their garden, fruit tarts from their berries, and we are busy lining up local ice cream, cheeses and more from that region! Chimacum is bursting with great farms and artisan products and it will be so much fun to take you out there for the day. This is going to be a great time and I hope that you can come. Once I have all the suppliers lined up I can set the price and then we can start selling tickets. I have had requests already, though I can't set the price without some more information first. We like to keep it as affordable as possible for you, so I must do my due diligence here.

Last week Mark, Sharon, Erin and I toured 'Start Now Farm' in Bremerton. Jean started the Fresh Local store in downtown B-town, and she and Glen have been gardening/farming together for almost 40 years. They are creative geniuses and what they have done is beyond amazing. Their neighbors on either side have opened their yards to them so they have 3 front lawns full of raised beds and 2 greenhouses. In the back of the houses they have more greenhouses and vertical gardens. Seriously, there are cherry trees on the rooftop. As you go up each level there are more and more raised beds and pots full of vegetables and fruit! It is a sight to behold. There is a processing area w/running water, a walk-in cooler and so much more. Jean and Glen take 'Start Now' very actively and when they want to do something they go for it. Last summer Jean talked about providing our restaurant with all of our lettuces. She interviewed me to see what we would pay, how it needed to get to us, and all the details she could get. They grew lettuces just for us and now all of our lettuces at the cafe are from their organic farm. She saw no reason to wait or hesitate, she had the idea and went for it. Start Now. Check out that link to their web site and you will be well impressed, believe me. I bet they would even give you a tour of the farm if you asked nice and took them some of our croissants (Jean loves them!). Just don't damage the kale growing along the sidewalk in front of their home or she will march your buns home and tell your mom on you!

It is great strides like this in our mission that help me to realize that we have had the cafe for 4 years now. We started out knowing no one and nothing and now we know a few people and a few things. Luckily they are the right people and things, so it all keeps growing and moving and we are having more fun than ever. We are also more tired than ever, though we think we see relief for some of that within the next 2 years... that is what we are working towards, anyway. Mark and I have always known our life together is a miracle and now with the cafe it is absolute. Our team and our family of customers is truly ours now, and that feels great! I love recognizing most of the faces in the cafe each day. They are usually smiling and happy to be with us, and on those rare occasions that they are not smiling, we can offer hugs, friendly support and of course, cookies!

Speaking of our fabulous team of amazing staff, Lori is starting back today, part time. Her baby is doing GREAT and thriving after her very rocky start. Her actual birth day will be one year ago on June 6! How can a year have passed? Anyway, we are all excited to have Lori, and her brand of team spirit, back with us 2 days a week. It is also great to not have to train someone right now, which I will take as cosmic payback for the drama we had with hiring folks last year. Thank goodness we got Vicky out of it all!

I should probably remind everyone that we will be closed next weekend for the holiday. We can never compete with the Folk Life Festival and other holiday doings, so we give the team a break. Mark and I will be catering Friday evening and Saturday, though on Sunday we get to go with his parents to Teatro Zinzanni! This was a Christmas present from 2 seasons ago, and we finally can all get together for this fabulous dinner out. They haven't been before, so I can't wait to see what they think. I think it is the best entertainment in Seattle and we are so lucky to have it here! If you ever want to take me, just say the word and I will clear my schedule. I am so amazed by the choreography between the show and the kitchen. I would LOVE to be in that kitchen and watching them get it all plated! It must be the most organized chaos ever, a beautiful thing to see in a well-run kitchen. It feels like magic to the audience, though I know it is a ton of work.

One other fantastic experience I am going to have is a brunch at Osteria La Spiga (Chef Sabrina Tinsley!!) in Seattle, with author Temra Costa. Chef's Collaborative is putting it on along with Elliot Bay Book Company, and they describe it like this: "A sumptuous brunch and conversation with Temra Costa, author of 'FARMER JANE: Women Changing the Way We Eat.' Her message: as farmers, chefs, educators and activists, women are changing the way we eat and farm. Joining in the conversation will be three remarkable women who embody Temra's portrayal of the modern sustainable food movement: --Chef & Culinary Instructor Karen Jurgensen of Seattle Culinary Academy & Quillisascut Farm (Rice, WA) --Farmer Brooke Lucy of Bluebird Grain Farm (Winthrop, WA), and --Kia Kozun, Marketing Manager; Nash's Organic Produce (Sequim, WA). The cost is $48, which includes a 5-course menu of seasonal specialties from the Emilia-Romagna region, and a signed copy of FARMER JANE."
If you want to go get tickets HERE, I already have mine. It would be great to have a group of food-loving women from Kitsap join me!

My mom and dad stopped by the cafe last Friday for the anniversary wine tasting and brought me a few things including a couple of professional reference books. The event was very fun and exhausting, so when I got home I set the items on the ottoman for later perusal. On Sunday I moved them to my desk and on Monday morning I finally looked through them. One thing was a really very old cook book called "The White House Cook Book" and while it is in really poor condition in the front, it appears to be mostly intact. The front cover has been recovered with paper that I cannot get off, and inside it has my great, great grandmother's name and a date: "Antoinette Pottgether, 1901, Chicago, Ill". The title page is missing so I don't know which version of this famous cook book it is, but there are also a few personal notes stuffed into the pages, and recipes taped to the front cover. It is SO COOL! My great, great gramma (known as 'little gramma') lived to be 100 years old. I just love this cook book and I love knowing that she used it and thumbed through it and I can touch those same pages, albeit very carefully. Mark is an antique lover and he told me that he had picked up a copy of the same cookbook at the antique store in Silverdale. We don't know which copy is older, they both read "New and Enlarged Edition" on the spine. His is in slightly better shape, and seems to be from Rapid City, South Dakota, as inscribed by Mrs. Robert Moll. There are recipes stuffed and taped into this book, as well. It is quite a food history and I am loving reading this!

I am going to quote out of this book and offer a recipe from it as well, because it is too irresistible to pass up. I hope you love it as I do.

"Everything in the make-up of a salad should be of the freshest material, the vegetables crisp and fresh, the oil or butter the very best, meats, fowl and fish well cooked, pure cider or white-wine vinegar--in fact, every ingredient first class to insure success.
The vegetables used in salad are: Beet-root, onions, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, celery, cucumbers, lentils, haricots, winter cress, peas, French beans, radish, cauliflower, --all these may be used judiciously in salad, if properly seasoned, according to the following directions:
Chervil is a delicious salad herb, invariably found in all salads prepared by a french gourmet. No man can be a true epicure who is unfamiliar with this excellent herb. It may be procured from the vegetable stands at Fulton and Washington Markets the year round. Its leaves resemble parsley, but are more divided, and a few of them added to a breakfast salad give a delightful flavor.
Chervil Vinegar.--A few drops of this vinegar added to fish sauces or salads is excellent, and well repays the little trouble taken in its preparation. Half fill a bottle with fresh or dry chervil leaves; fill the bottle with good vinegar and heat it gently by placing it in warm water, which bring to boiling point; remove from the fire; when cool cork, and in two weeks it will be ready for use."

So there you have it folks, we are all true French gourmets now. I could go on and on with this book and I have a few other really old cook books that I have picked up over the years, perhaps I will find more recipes in them for you. Do you have any old family artifacts that you cherish? I would love to hear about them. Drop me an email!

~Ciao for now!

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

Mark and I watched the movie "Charlie Wilson's War" and not 3 minutes into it I was smiling as I instantly fell in love with the writing. The dialogue was so well done and such a pleasure to behold. At the end I found out it was Aaron Sorkin who wrote it and NO WONDER I loved it so much! He wrote the West Wing series that I have fallen in love with of late and it is the writing that gets me every time. If you haven't seen the movie you should and if you have, well, you know what I am talking about. There are many memorable quotes from the movie and I can't choose a favorite, though if you have one I would love to know it.

I was so super busy last week getting ready for the Hama Hama day trip which was wildly successful, thank you for asking! Everything I dreamed for that day came true beautifully. I believe that every guest had a wonderful time and did exactly as they wanted to, the wine was great, the food was great and the weather was absolutely fantastic! The eagles showed up for the lowest tide of the year and I am still rather excited about the great day we had. One of our customers emailed a comment to me and I posted it on the cafe Facebook page for you to see. I prepped all day on Friday and got home around 8:45 pm. We were at the cafe by 6 on Saturday and I left for the farm at 8 am. Mark greeted most of the 30 attendees at the cafe with pastries and coffee, organized car pools and headed them out for the hour+ drive. The tide was going out quickly when I arrived and I spent 2 hours setting up the makeshift kitchen on the beach. Lissa (3rd generation working the Hama Hama Oyster Farm) built a camp fire and we went up to greet the group. They all got a tour of the store and facility, then went out for a guided beach walk with Lissa and her brother Adam. The oyster beds were near completely exposed and they got to see alot! They made their way toward the family's private beach where I was all set up and waiting for them.

I greeted them all with smoked and pickled oysters that were made by the Hama Hama crew. They had picked up fresh oysters and a couple of them started shucking for everyone. Nita was trying raw oysters for the very first time and loved them! We had Justin from the band 'Sideways Reign' played guitar and sang for background music while Lissa put a few oysters on the fire and showed us how to grill them. The folks from Hoodsport Winery were pouring their Orca series of wine and everyone settled in to the pace of the day. Some were happy to sit on the logs and watch the tide come in, while others went out and dug clams for the group, shucked oysters, Panko'd oysters for frying, and watched the cooking demos. We took Mark's crusty Italian bread and it went great with the cheese from Black Sheep Creamery. We showed how to steam clams (and a few mussels that they got as well) and I made 4 salads: My Mama's Broccoli, Farro, Roasted Red Potato, & Caesar; I apparently far over-estimated what 30 people would eat. Don't get me wrong, they did a great job of eating, we just supplied a bit too much food. When it was time to demonstrate the Oyster Bisque I could tell that everyone was ready to slow way down on the eating, so we agreed that I would make it for the soup on Monday and they would all get to come in for a free cup of soup. The final tastes of the day were Mark's Chocolate Brownies w/Olympic Mountain Madagascar Vanilla Ice Cream and Hoodsport's Loganberry Cordial. Lissa brewed some of our blend of coffee up at the store so everyone could get a cup for the road and they all slowly meandered away, full and satisfied from a fabulous time. It felt like everyone had the sort of time that I intended them to have, and there is nothing more gratifying to me than that! Mark and I got home around 8:30 that night and we were exhausted and happy. By the way, I had not eaten much during the day-I am rarely hungry when I am cooking-so we stopped at Eagle Creek Saloon for a bite with our new friends, Rose & Mike, from Hoodsport Winery. There is a giant plastic hamburger in front of the building and I have always wanted to check this place out, so I was excited to see that this was where we were stopping. We (3 out of the 4 of us) shared an "Eagle" burger which was something like a pound of hamburger on a bun with jalapenos, mushrooms and I don't remember what else. It was very good and I am glad that Mike wanted to share it with us! It was a great burger: hand formed and well cared for. Lots of bikers and locals in this place, it was the kind of dive that I fall in love with!

On Thursday before the big event I was able to make time for a date with my friend Alison. She was sporting a new hair-do and looking fabulous, and we went to the free wine tasting at Pour at Four, a wine bar in Tacoma. It was really fun, we shared some very good food, and it's a great little wine bar, so if you find yourself in the Proctor district you should look it up. There is also a new wine bar opening in Gig Harbor, called Morso. It is associated with the Water to Wine store downtown and as far as I can tell it will be opening next week. I am very excited about this one, and I think it will be my new favorite place in the Harbor.

So I am planning on our next Day Trip being at the certified organic family farm: Finn River Farm & Cidery in the Chimacum Valley. They are a hard cidery that does the sparkling cider in the method of champagne, which I think makes it far better than any other hard cider that I have tasted. We love Crystie & Keith and you will understand a bit more about why when you read this quote from their web site: "Finnriver grows a variety of berries and heirloom apple trees, in order to provide luscious, organic fruits for our wines and ciders. We also glean wild apples from old-time local homesteads and source fruit from a fifth generation organic family farm in eastern Washington. We're committed to ecological business practices and sustainable land stewardship through organic production, conservation easements, renewable energy, salmon safe certification, habitat restoration, and community partnerships, celebration and outreach."

You may be wondering what do they grow. They say it better than I can: "we grow an assortment of berry crops, including blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and black currants, as well as a mixed vegetable garden, varied flowers, popular squash varieties, and several heirloom apple orchards. Both here and on neighboring farms we grow over 25 acres of grains to produce whole grain berries and, with our stone mill, to offer fresh-milled flours. We also keep honey bees, raise layer and meat chickens, and, sometimes, cows, pigs, sheep or goats." It is a great destination farm, quite beautiful in the winter, which is when I was there, and I cannot wait to see it in full bloom this summer. They also have a wood-fired oven outside the tasting room so you might be able to guess what kinds of foods we will be featuring for this next feast. I have not set the date with them yet, though I am working on it as you read this. I have also been planning the next few wine tastings that we will have. This Friday's is free because it is our 4th anniversary (yay us!) and we love to share the joy. One a month through the summer should keep us all happy and enjoying a nice variety of wines!

Have you seen the Hornby Eagles? It is an adult pair of Bald Eagles just off of Vancouver Island, and they have a chick that they are raising. There is also an egg that did not hatch in the nest. You can see the raptors in real time (it's free, so there are ads on the page) and there is also sound, so you can hear their calls. They get quite talkative at times! There are 2 camera angles and my favorite is the one right at nest level, though when one of the adults sits and blocks the camera they switch it to the angle far above the nest. I have not made time to go to my personal Facebook page in over a week, but I find time to check the eagles at least once a day. It is really cool!

I feel like I am babbling now so I will leave you with this recipe for carrot salad that I recently found and fell in love with. It is not my recipe, it is from a blog I read, though I do not remember which one. Fresh carrots and salty cheese make this a fantastic summer salad!

Carrot Salad with Harissa, Feta and Mint

3/4 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed and coarsely grated
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 crushed clove of garlic
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds or about half as much, ground (I used seeds but ground them first)
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds or about half as much, ground (I used the seed but ground them first, again)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon harissa (You could use a few drops of Sriracha chili sauce if you can't find, or make, harissa)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
3-4 ounces feta, crumbled or chopped into bits

In a small sauté pan, cook the garlic, caraway, cumin, paprika, harissa and sugar in the oil until fragrant, about one to two minutes. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Pour over the carrots and mix. Add the herbs and mix. Leave to infuse for an hour and add the feta before serving.

Harissa: Is a North African chile paste that has become very popular. It goes with everything: eggs, potatoes, stews, couscous, sandwiches and more, and there are almost as many recipes as there are people who consume it. The advantage of making your own, as always, is that you can adjust the recipe to suit your tastes and desired level of heat.

8 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded (about 2 oz.)
8 dried new mexico chiles, stemmed and seeded (about 1 1⁄2 oz.)
1⁄2 tsp. caraway seeds
1⁄4 tsp. coriander seeds
1⁄4 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. dried mint leaves
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
1 1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt
5 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lemon

1. Put chiles into a medium bowl, cover with boiling water, and let sit until softened, about 20 minutes. Heat caraway, coriander, and cumin in an 8" skillet over medium heat. Toast spices, swirling skillet constantly, until very fragrant, about 4 minutes. Transfer spices to a grinder with the mint and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.
2. Drain chiles and transfer to the bowl of a food processor with the ground spices, olive oil, salt, garlic, and lemon juice. Purée, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the paste is very smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a sterilized 1-pint glass jar and fill with oil until ingredients are submerged by 1⁄2".
Refrigerate, topping off with more oil after each use. Paste will keep for up to 3 weeks.
MAKES 1 CUP

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

I saw a commercial for the Bounce Dryer Bar. The woman in the ad was over-worked and over-wrought and then she had to do laundry! When it came time to do that horrid chore of throwing in a dryer sheet she smiled...she didn't have to do all that extra work! What a relief! She happily proclaimed 'it's one less thing to worry about!'and I thought HOLY CRAP! I never realized what a huge burden and chore putting in the dryer sheet was! I would LOVE to have one less thing to worry about! I immediately went online to see what this magical stress reliever was all about and to make sure it was environmentally friendly (after all, fewer dryer sheets in the dump is probably good) and alas, they add perfume to it. I get enough headaches without that, so until they come up with an unscented version I am doomed to a stressed life of dryer sheet chores. sigh. A life free from stress was SO CLOSE!

Last weekend Mark and I got away for a whole 18 hours (including travel time) and spent an evening with old friends. My friend Melanie turned 50 and I have known her since she was 30 so this was a big deal. Her party was up north in Skagit County on Chuckanut Drive so we used miles to get a room at the Best Western (for the 8 hours we would be there) and had ourselves a time. There were about 40 of us at the restaurant (we had a private room) to celebrate her life and times and we had us some FUN! There was a slide show up of pictures of Melanie throughout her life along with many of the friends and family that she loves. I enjoyed seeing pictures of her mom, who passed away nearly 8 years ago. Mark enjoyed seeing pictures of me and my perms back then... I always did want curly hair! Mel is all grey now and we were all much older versions of those pictures, and I had not seen most of those folks for a very long time, so hugs and laughter were the game of the night.

Her lovely wife Brenda had appointed another friend to emcee a 'story time' and he had us all stand up together. He asked 'who here has known Melanie for less than 4 years? You may sit down'. He went on to have people sit as they had known her for less than 6 years, 8, 10, 15, and 19. There were only 3 of us left standing: Beth, Mark and me. Beth has known her nearly 24 years so she won, and she went first. I had chosen only 2 Mel stories to tell and as I was sitting down I heard others shouting out 'tell the one about...' and so I stood up and told a couple more. We were laughing so much I think the room could have lifted off and flown with all that levity! Melanie loves good food as much as I do and this was one of the few times in our lives together that the food was not very important to the event. We were at one of her all time favorite restaurants (Chuckanut Manor) and there was an abundance of food, but we were all more interested in the visiting. The service, by the way, was phenomenal. Two women worked the room and we were never without a drink, a water refill, or whatever else we desired, in spite of the close quarters and colorful crowd. They were really great!

We were up and out of the hotel early so we could get back and put out some Mother's Day quiche and other orders that we had for the day and it was a really great, busy day. Business has been picking up and I am so grateful for that! Thank goodness our customers are so great and I am beginning to realize that they love us for who we are and what we have to offer, and they don't seem to want or need very many special deals. We have been putting them out there (and we make them really good!) and very few folks actually take advantage of them. Maybe the just like knowing that the deals are available... whatever it is, our family of customers is the most loyal and great bunch out there and we are extremely lucky to have them. I may be waxing a bit, and that is probably due to our pending anniversary. Four years at the cafe becomes official on May 20th! Every successful day that passes is a celebration and four years is a great big deal! It is very exciting.

For our own Mother's Day my parents came over Saturday night and we grilled some pork ribs and steak, along with some bok choy and a baguette from the Loaf and Round truck. I was so happy to remember where they would be as I was running errands on Saturday and my timing was great! I have fallen in love with their baguettes and I cannot live without them. I also stopped at Colello's Produce stand to pick some things up and it is really a nice place! They assure me that they are reaching out to local farmers to bring in as much local stuff as they can, which will be fantastic once we are in the growing season! It was about this time that I was yelling at the radio announcer for the Sounders. He needs to move to LA! And I digress... So anyway, we grilled it all up, I tossed a raw asparagus salad together and we had some lovely Cab from Eliseo Silva and enjoyed a great candle-lit dinner. Then we all went into the living room and bowled 10 frames. I bowled a record high! Mom and dad played 3 holes of golf and we watched Mark in a boxing match. Oh, did I mention that we used our Costco rebate to get a WII? It is so fun! And since it was sort of free I love it even more! It was a great way to spend an evening for sure.

The next day we went out to Mark's parents to spend the afternoon with his family. Travis mentioned that he probably won't be coming to stay and work with us this summer, which did not surprise me too much. We will miss him like crazy and I hope he will spend at least a couple of days with us just for fun, but he is 16 now and so we may lose him for a few years. It is still my only regret in life that I allowed my last job to keep me from being more involved in his early years, so I don't intend to miss anything else if I can help it. I know that as he gets older he will come back around and meanwhile we will encourage him to live a great life and have lots of fun! He is one very smart kid (all the Downen men are, he is just the first to start finding his potential at such a young age) and he is running, so in great shape, and I bet they will be beating the girls off of him if it hasn't started already. His mom told me that they will let us know when his track meets start up again so we can get out to one, and I can't wait to root him on!

So the week has flown past (again) and the Hama Hama Day Trip is so close! I am so excited to be able to do this, because it is so like the things we do in Italy and I have wanted to share that with the folks here since we started the Italy trip. This is the first in what I hope is a series of food & wine extravaganza farm visits and it is already a success! The next one is in the planning stages and it will be at a different place yet still tons of fun. I promised the staff that it would be on a Sunday so that they can come too, they are all totally bummed that they can't come out with us and enjoy this day. Besides, it is always more fun when the girls are with us! I am trying to decide if I should make the entire batch of Oyster Bisque with the day trippers, or if I should just do a small pot and have the rest done. It is so easy to do, I am leaning towards the whole pot, but if anything goes wrong (I am cooking on a camp stove after all!) then we are down an entree. Not that there won't be enough food mind you... we shall see.

For the recipe today I am offering up my brother-in-law Don's SweetTart Cucumber Salad. He made it at the last family reunion and I fell in love with it!

2 1/2 cup rice vinegar 
1/2 Cup granulated sugar 
15 medium cucumbers , sliced, salted, and drained (see directions)
2 medium red onion , sliced very thin
2 small jalapeño chiles , seeded and minced (or more, to taste)

To prepare the cucumbers: Peel, halve lengthwise, and scoop seeds from cucumbers using a spoon. Stack halves flat side down; slice diagonally 1/4-inch thick. Toss with 1 tablespoon salt in strainer or colander set over bowl; Drain for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 hours. Transfer to medium bowl; reserve for further use.

1. Bring vinegar to boil in small nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar to dissolve; reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

2. Meanwhile, mix cucumbers, onions, and jalapeños in medium bowl. Pour dressing over cucumber mixture; toss to coat. Serve chilled.

The longer this one marinates the better it is!

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

I ruined the pork butt roast. I agonized over what to do... I had ignored my inner voices once; I was loathe to do it again, and yet nothing made sense to me for a moment. Nothing. It was my third annual catering for a Kentucky Derby Party: Oven 'smoked' pork roast, sweet potato 'casserole', cheesy grits souffle, bacon-cheddar spoon bread, and a few other things. I brined this beautiful pork butt for 2 days, got in to the cafe 7 hours before it was due and pulled it out, rinsed it and let it dry. I rubbed it all over with spices to create a flavorful bark. I put it in a slow oven and lovingly tended to it for a few hours. The last 2 times I checked the temperature I was slightly puzzled: it felt just about done, it was tender, and yet the thermometer read quite low. It didn't make sense but I know to trust the thermometer and I was really busy by then getting all the other stuff done. Plus we were lucky to have a fairly busy restaurant day that day, so I was back and forth between the cooking and running out orders for our guests. I didn't listen to that doubting inner voice that told me something was not quite right.

The next-to-last time I checked it I KNEW it was done, and yet I ignored that inner voice again and put it back in. IT DID NOT MAKE SENSE, yet I did it. They arrived to pick up the food and the pork, which should have been done an hour ago, was not. We pulled it out one more time and Mark used another thermometer which read WAY OVER DONE! Holy crap. I jumped back as if I had been bitten, my face stricken and denial-laden panic rising in my throat. I could only think of swear words and I didn't want to cry (THERE'S NO CRYING IN THE KITCHEN!) so I tried to think fast. I grabbed the serving pan and tried to lift the pork onto it and it fell apart like beautiful pulled pork should... but I had to take most of the bark off so the parts that were the driest would come away from the center. I salvaged as much as I could, covered it and took it out to her car, trying to breathe.

I told her, in the most professional tone that I could muster, that the pork was different this year (yeah, RUINED is pretty different!) and then I showed it to her. I explained what I had done, in as light a tone as I could manage, and that I pulled out the very best parts for her party. She had my cell phone number and of course her satisfaction is 100% guaranteed, so I would do whatever I needed to make it right. She laughed, seemingly tickled at my despair. (Thank goodness she had worked with me those other times and knew I wasn't a complete failure!) She drove away and I waited for the angry phone call, I was planning other things I could make really fast and deliver to her. She didn't call... and that was worse because it meant she was too upset to allow me to fix it.

Added note: By the way when I went back inside the cafe I immediately ordered 3 new thermometers. 1 digital remote and 2 old fashioned regular thermometers. It didn't fix it but I did feel a little better for having fired the stupid thermometer that I had used.

Mark and I pulled a 16 hour day that day, longer than our usual 12 or so, and I was exhausted. The Kitsap School of Art had a show that we participated in, so we had lots of the artists and their families coming through. It was an honor to be a part of such a creative crowd! Later we poured at the Body reFORM Pilates Studio's Relay for Life Charity Wine tasting, so I was distracted with talking to people about wine and soothed a bit by meeting Frank Roth and his wife Michaela (I may not be spelling it correctly; it is pronounced: Mish-ay-la). Frank is the wine maker at Eliseo Silva/Tagaris Vineyards and I have been a fan for a few years (his wines continue to come through our place; they are fabulous!). They were so sweet and fun to talk with, and I wish we could have spent a few hours more talking to them. Those things were a nice salve on my wounded pride.

So after that excessively long day on our feet we were going home and of course we were starving. Mark said he would fix us a sandwich when we got home and I said no, I am going to bed when we get home! We decided to take a risk and stop at The Float, a tavern in Purdy that we used to love, and lately have not enjoyed as much as we used to. It was Saturday, it was going to be packed and loud and we would never get served. Let's give it a try anyway. We got a parking spot right in front of the door... that can't be bad since my feet hurt so much they were throbbing. We walked in and it was not so packed, just nicely attended, and lo and behold there was A TABLE available for us! We took it and were served rather quickly. The band took up and they were called 'The Knuckleheads'. They are AWESOME! They were 3 older guys jammin with a bluesy rock and roll sound, a little Johnnie Cash, a little Georgia Satellites... and even a little disco-turned-blues that was really, really good. Even better was the Sounders game on the tv over the bar-except they tied and it shoulda been a win. We enjoyed the music, the food, a nice beer (I love me some Mac n Jacks!) and bed never felt so good...even though someone who ruined the pork roast didn't deserve such comfort.

Still no disappointed/angry call. I slept pretty well (yay exhaustion) and the first thing I thought of Sunday morning was the ruined pork. Did I ruin their party? Were their 22 guests hating me today? Did I let down 2 of my favorite customers? I haven't had such dramatically dark thoughts about my role in the business in quite awhile. When we first started out every time I made a mistake, no matter how small, I was certain that we were doomed to fail within moments. Mark was like that too, though less often than I was. I shuffled around the house, fighting the urge to call my customers and ask them how it went. I always want to do that, call and check in, as if I sent them with my children instead of food that I made. I have so far been successful in refraining from that level of psychosis and that day was no exception, though it was an internal battle.

Monday... will they return the serve ware and tell me of their disgust? No one showed up, they didn't call. More torture.

Today (Tuesday) the ladies had a friend return the serve ware. Sharon called to give me the inventory so I could check off my list and "Oh by the way... the gentleman said you were worried about the pork." I sucked in my breath and waited with dread... "Yes I was" I muttered. "Well", said Sharon, "he said that it was perfect. They loved it and it could not have been better." WHAT??? There is NO WAY that could be true. "Are you sure??? He wasn't just being nice?" There was hardly any bark, it was falling apart and hadn't even had time to rest so it must have been dry! "Seriously" she insisted "he assured me it was fine and I believe him." Holy crap. I thought for a moment... I mean if they liked that they would have married the pork I intended to make.

What could have saved me? Epiphany: it must have been the brine. Brining adds flavor and moisture and I know that it can help any meat withstand a bit of over cooking but I am here to tell you that it was WAY over cooked. I normally would take it out at 150 degrees and my ears and eyes stopped working when Mark told me it was climbing over 190! It should have been as dry as string and it wasn't. Or at least, they say it wasn't, and I have to believe them. I know it tasted good, I tasted the dry-as-wood-slats bark and it WAS excellent in flavor. Ok. I have avoided disaster. I live to cook another day. I did not kill anyone and they do not want to kill me. I did not waste an animal's life and I did not ruin a great party. I am breathing again. I must go in to the cafe and get ready for Cinco de Mayo-I am making empanadas and mole and I must convince Betuel that I can do that...He isn't so sure that this gringa can cook a mole. I have a few tricks up my sleeve and I am hoping to get him to smile when he tastes it. I will let you know.

Obviously the recipe of the day should entail a brine. Rather I think I will give guidelines to brining different pieces of meat. Ok so here is the thing: brining must have salt to work and there is no such thing as 'low salt' brining. On the other hand, the salt in the brine does not necessarily add sodium to the meat. You can rinse off the meat and pat it dry to reassure yourself, but either way it will not leave a salty residue or flavor. Trust me on this. It facilitates moisture, tenderness and flavor and that is all, and yet that is everything.

You should brine any of these meats for this long:
Whole Chicken 3-8 hrs
Chicken Pieces 1-2 hrs
Whole Turkey 12 hrs-2 days
Turkey Breast 4-8 hrs
Cornish Game Hens 1-2 hrs
Pork Chops 2-6 hrs
Pork Tenderloin 2-8 hrs
Whole Pork Loin 1-3 days

Use a nonreactive container that is appropriate for the size. For smaller pieces of chicken or fish a ziplock bag will work fine. I use a 5 gallon pickle bucket for the bigger roasts and fowl... come get one from us any time, we have lots of buckets!

Use one cup of salt for every 2 quarts of water. I also match salt with equal parts sugar or brown sugar, depending on what I am making.

I found the definitive answers to all your brining questions HERE if you want to check it out.

Brine it, Baby!