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

Link: http://www.WaterfrontBakery.com

Wow what a weather week we had! Yes it's back to colder (though warmer than it was) and rainy, but I cannot help but be so very grateful for the gorgeous week we had last week. The Seattle Times article came out on Thursday and we noticed increased traffic and more 'foreigners' both Thursday and Friday. People mentioned they were coming from Seattle and Tacoma due to the article and we thought that was pretty cool! Then Saturday came. It was SO beautiful, the nicest day so far this year. The morning started out quietly, as Saturdays can do, and then around 10 am it started. They came from Mercer Island, Graham, Muckilteo and more! It was very exciting and best of all, we had lots of new folks find out about us who live right here in Kitsap! While of course we love the visitors, the locals who can become our regulars are the ones we especially want to find out about us. That is why we rely so heavily on loyalty rewards and we do not offer one-time coupons to bring in new customers. Word of mouth is our BEST form of advertising, and we recognize that loyal, returning customers are the backbone of our cafe.

It was the busiest Saturday of our history. There was a different vibe that came with it, and while everyone was in a generally good mood, some of the visitors were noticeably more business-like than our usual Saturday crowd. Saturdays are different for us at the cafe, no matter how busy we are the atmosphere is generally more relaxed and casual, which I know sounds odd for me to say since we are a relaxed and casual place! During the week folks are busier and working and have a list of Things That Must Get Done. On Saturdays I think they have to-do lists, and errands have more personal meaning. Saturdays are more fun and people are out to have a good time, which shows in their attitudes. The air was perhaps mildly brusque at times, and I think that we were still able to live up to our usual warmth and service in spite of those uncomfortable few... Maybe it was just because it was so constantly busy, or maybe because some people find it unsettling to try a new place out, I don't know what it was, and I hope that we did not reflect it back. I don't think that we did, and sometimes it can be difficult to tell when you are in the midst of the (controlled) chaos.

It was indeed so busy that while we close at 4 pm, none of us could get to the door to shut it! It was so fantastic to see all these new people excited about a new place and we just kept on going until about 4:30. A few folks finished up their meals until a little past that and when they all went away we were left standing there grinning at each other. We were all exhausted and euphoric off of the busy day and sunshine! Thank goodness I have a strong crew, those gals worked their butts off!

This week it is back to a slow down and hopefully it won't be as dreary as they are predicting. I always love the sight of a group of 'Easy-Up' canopies. It makes me giddy with delight and hope because it usually means there is a farmers market, and I love those! Silverdale's first day was Tuesday, it was sunny and clear and chilly. Newcomer Amy's Decadent Chocolates is there this year and several old friends as well. Mark will be there nearly every Tuesday (except July 5th)and he will have bread and cookies to make everyone's day a little brighter, no matter what the sun is doing.

My favorite meal in the past few weeks happened on Sunday the 17th at Bay Street Bistro. when Charles and Rose Ann Finkel visited from the famed Pike Brewing Company in Seattle. The Bistro's chef and owner, John, used to work for the Finkels and he knows their brews well, so each pairing was really perfect. He was nice enough to seat us with the Finkels, whom we have gotten to know a little bit over the past few years, and rarely get a chance to sit down and talk with them for any amount of time, so that was fabulous. Charlie introduced each beer as the staff poured our tasters and served the matching course, and it was truly fantastic all around! The menu:

John's house cured King Salmon "Gravlax" with Pike Dry Wit Belgian style Ale
 
Roasted Asparagus with Salumi Coppa and Shaved Parmagiano-Reggiano with Naughty Nellie Golden Ale
 
Bitter Greens with Red-Curried Gulf Prawns (I am stealing that idea) with Pike India Pale Ale
 
Roasted Garlic-Hazelnut Tortellini with Pike Tadem Double Ale
 
House Smoked, ale-brined Pork Loin, with Double-ale Cream with Pike British-style Pale Ale
 
Chocolate Stout Truffle Cake from Carter's Chocolates with Pike XXXXX Stout

We. Were. Stuffed. Matt from Carter's Chocolates also worked for the Finkels and he knew how great that last pairing would be. It may sound odd, though it sure did not taste odd! I do not usually go for dessert, and I ate it up. I then walked on the hilliest part of the Cushman Trail all week so I think I made up for it!

On Saturday I made Easter Dinner for some customers and it was a nice meal of boneless Lamb Roast, and I made an English Mint Sauce to go with it, from Farmer Paul's fresh mint leaves. I used Possum Run Farm's fresh horseradish root to make a Whipped Horseradish Cream to go with it as well; roasted asparagus that was picked that morning in Yakima and I made them a bechemel sauce to go with it. We tasted it all and for ourselves added roasted Port Townsend potatoes that I had bought at the Poulsbo Farmer's Market a week ago, and they were starting to soften up, so I brought them to work and roasted them. I must say it was all quite delicious and I hope they enjoyed their meal!

This week is sort of the beginning of the lead up to our 5 year anniversary. Five years ago tomorrow was Mark's last day at the Chevron. It does not seem that long ago that I boxed up several dozen cookies and drove to Bellevue to surprise him and say goodbye to the Old Bellevue Chevron. Gilbert's Deli is across the street and the owner took me by the hand and led me through his restaurant, teaching me as much as he could in 10 minutes. Our house recipe Iced Tea is based on his own delicious tea blend, and I think of him fondly every time I taste it! That was a Friday and Mark started learning the morning bake the following Monday. He only did it every day for 3 weeks with the previous owner before it was just the two of us! I will reminisce more in a later post, but that is a sweet memory. He quit his job of 16 years to help me with a dream which I had no idea what the true impact would be. That's love!

Now we are embarking on our 4th year of Dining Out For Life. We were the only place the first year and 4 years later there are several, with Kitsap County HIV AIDS involved and benefiting directly from the event. So exciting!

For the recipe this week I have decided that you should know how to make bread. Wait, don't go! It is SO easy with this recipe that is actually Mark Bittman's. It is in his fantastic cook book 'How to Cook Everything' and I am going to add in my own twist for you. Don't worry! Going to the grocery store is more strenuous than this recipe is! If you do not have a stand mixer, use a food processor to make this, it works just fine.

Fast French Bread

Makes: 3-4 baguettes, 1 larger loaf, or 12-16 rolls
Time: About 2 hours, largely unattended

3 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more as needed
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

Meanwhile if it is going to be needed warm the oven proofer up. (warm the oven to the lowest setting)
Put the flour, yeast & salt in mixer; whisk together. Then, with the machine running, pour in about a cup of water.

Process until the dough forms a ball, adding a tablespoon more water at a time until it becomes smooth; You’re looking for a moist, slightly shaggy but well-defined ball. The whole process should take about a minute at most. If it is too wet and sticky, just add a tsp of flour at a time until it is fixed, don't sweat it at all.

Remove the dough to a bowl sprayed with nonstick (like Pam) and put in the oven, but turn the oven off. Or, if it's warmer weather, cover with saran wrap and let sit at room temp. Either way let rise at least an hour, 2 is even better.

Dust a little flour on your work surface. Dump the dough out and shape it as you like, sprinkling with flour as necessary but keeping the flour to a minimum. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F with your baking sheet inside. You will want to spray it with nonstick unless you use parchment. If you have a pizza stone or bricks, place that inside as it preheats instead of a baking sheet. Also place a pan filled with water on the bottom. Let the dough rest on the stove, at least 20 minutes while the oven pre heats.

When you are ready to bake, slash the top of each loaf or roll once or twice with a sharp knife and slide the bread directly onto the hot (oiled or parchment lined) pan or pizza stone. Turn the heat down to 375°F.(Every time you open the oven splash the water so it steams it up.)

Bake until the crust is golden brown and the internal temperature of the bread is at least 210°F or the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. The time will vary depending on bread size, for the larger loaves it will be close to 30 minutes. Turn the loaves 180 degrees half way through, then rotate front to back as well if you are turning the loaves themselves and not the pan.

Remove the loaves, spray with a bit of water if you would like a shinier crust, and cool on a wire rack.

Trust me. You can do this and you will thank me!
NOTE: I don't use instant yeast, and if you happen to have regular yeast only here is what you do:
add 25% (about a 1/3 tsp) more and bloom it in a 1/3 cup of warm (100 degees) water with a pinch of sugar or honey. Let it bloom for 10-15 minutes, and it will be frothy. Turn on the machine and dump that in, reducing the amount of other water that you put in... all the water should be luke warm.

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

The sunshine is bringing folks out to the park these past few days. It's still quite nippy out, but we true Western Washingtonians know to take advantage of a day with sun (breaks) no matter what the temperature is! People are sitting outside and actually have been for several days over the past month, in spite of the fact that 'they' say it has been raining more than usual this Spring. I think that the rain is coming down harder when it rains, more than the fact that it is raining every day, though I bet you disagree with me. The sun feels good, though, and I am happy for that! You may remember my friend Alison who wrote an article about us for West Sound Home & Garden Magazine. That was about a year ago and we still get people talking about what a great article that was, which is in large part due to Alison's great writing. She and I have been friends since the day we met and a couple of weeks ago she called to ask me to help her research an article with her. This article will be all about finding unusual, or unique chocolates on the Kitsap Peninsula, so of course I said YES! I won't spoil the article for you, and I cannot wait until it comes out to read her take on our adventure, though I am going to mention a few things that stood out for me. I knew I was going to enjoy tasting the creations of my food business peers out there, what I did not realize is how much I would enjoy getting to know the wonderful people behind the food.

While I knew OF all of the businesses we visited, I only knew a few of the owners. Having been on the Chocolate Tour in Seattle last year I knew how to pace myself and only had tastes... Alison enjoyed the experience a bit more, shall we say, full on. We started out in the morning in Kingston and made our way back home (she lives further south than I do, so it worked out nicely) stopping at various places on the way. It took all day long and we did not even get to everyone on her list! It was such fun to visit Thormod and Asta at their new place in Poulsbo, and he showed us the entire process! We got to peek inside Chocomo to see the status of the remodel, and I loved hearing Peter's story. In fact all the stories we were told that day were like a gift from each person we spoke with. They were interesting and inspiring, and getting involved in each one is partly what took us so long.

We stopped at the cafe part way through the day so we could get some soup and I could let Alison try out our goat cheese-chocolate truffles. They are always a surprise because they are not sweet, made with dark chocolate, chevre and cream, they are rich and tangy and creamy and could even be an appetizer, though I love them for dessert. The last stop of the day (at 5:30 I begged for mercy and asked her to take me home and postpone what was left!) was at Global Bean where Joel talked to us about his sipping chocolates and I had a Chai Latte. It was a real chai, not the mixes that so many of us use out there, and he told me that it sold well and invited me back to learn how to do it. Mark and I went in to take him up on that last night and I am really excited to make this at the cafe. I have always wanted to do it and thought it was too work-intensive, though I think I have found a way to simplify it. I researched traditional methods for making it and I will combine those with his method, and add in a twist or two of my own, and offer it up to folks to see what they think. It's always risk free at our place, if you don't like what we made you we will make you something else, so I think folks will be willing to give it a try, and I know many of them will love it. It's real tea and spices, and I will not sweeten it much so that those who like it sweeter can add their own, and those who do not can have it spicier. We shall see how it goes after I get the tea blend I have my eye on.

Since Alison agreed to postpone a couple of places Mark and I met her at Carter's in Port Orchard on Friday evening. Matt is moving his store in the near future, down bethel towards town to a free-standing building, and I know that will be good for his business. From there we went to Cosmo's and Barb, the best bartender around, made Alison three chocolate cocktails to taste. The best part was that Alison let me taste them, too! I tell you, sometimes this job is really tough! From there Mark and I were lucky to be invited out to Rodstol for an impromptu dinner party, and we had such a wonderful time! There were 6 couples all together and it was a lovely dinner with great conversation and lots of laughter, which was completely fabulous. They welcomed us into their group and we felt like we had been there all along.

Farmer's market season is beginning on the Peninsula and I got to hit Poulsbo on opening day last Saturday. It was like 'Old Home Week', seeing our farmers and other friends all together at the market. I love making contacts and seeing what everyone has growing and I really miss it on the weeks I can't get to a market. Mark will do the Silverdale market again this year, which starts on Tuesday the 19th, so I will usually be able to hit that one at least. I always announce when I am going with "Meet Me At The Market" posts on Twitter, Facebook and our web site, and whoever finds me first (I almost always remember to wear my blue apron for easy identification) wins a prize! I haven't been found very often, and I hope that it catches on more this year so I can meet more of you out there.

This Friday is our 'Taxes Suck! Cookies Don't!" promotion where you can 'double your return' (aren't I clever) so if you buy a cookie, you get one free. Something to sweeten up tax day and I am keeping it on Friday even though, technically, the deadline is Monday the 18th this year. We have a busy Saturday including our new monthly Story Time at 2 pm. This month we are featuring Spring! Bring your kids to be read to by a Master Gardener and a Frog! (Yes, a frog that reads to kids.. Stephanie was the Star Bellied Sneech at the Dr Seuss party and the kids LOVE her!)It's a fun time for sure.

Funny, when I started writing this there were sun breaks, then it poured rain, and now it is sunny again! I love this place! I will end with a recipe for you. It is from the Cooking with Italian Grandmothers book that my sister got me for Christmas and I have made this recipe (or a version of it; I just cannot leave things alone) twice now, and loved it both times. It's not difficult and you can exchange the dried garbanzo beans for canned ones, just drain and rinse them really well, and then the recipe is even easier and faster.

Vincenzi's Pasta e Ceci (Creamy Chickpeas with broken pasta)

1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cover the chickpeas by 3 inches with water, sprinkle in the baking soda and give it a stir. Soak it for 12-24 hours (I add a couple of bay leaves to this step, as well as salt so the brine will help tenderize them)

OR 2 14 oz cans chick peas
8-10 cups water or broth
1 medium yellow potato, finely diced
3 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic (no need to peel)
2 tsp salt

2 TBS olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup tiny pasta (like orzo or stars), or well broken angel hair or cappellini

After soaking, (or opening the can and rinsing well) drain the chickpeas and place them in a soup pot with the water, potato, bay leaves and garlic. Put the lid on slightly ajar, and bring to a a strong simmer. Scrape off and remove any bean scum that rises to the surface of the pot. Simmer until the chickpeas are tender but not mushy, about an hour. Salt the pot at the end of simmering.

While the beans are cooking peel and finely mince 4 cloves of garlic. In a small saute pan, cook the garlic in theolive oil until light golden brown. You do not want it to get too dark, or it will become bitter. Add the garlic and oil to the simmering beans, which you can do at any time during the cooking. I follow the author and do so half way through the cooking time.

Remove the bay leaves and discard; remove the whole, unpeeled garlic cloves and squeeze the garlic from the skin, back into the pot.

Strain 1 shy cup of the cooked chickpeas from the water and set aside. Puree the rest in a blender or food mill, then return everything to the pot. Bring to a simmer and add the pasta.

Cook for the amount of time recommended on the pasta package, stirring frequently throughout the cooking, or the pasta will stick to the bottom of the pan. Taste for salt and adjust.

Serve garnished with chopped flat leaf parsley, black pepper, grated parmesan or pecorino, and a generous drizzle of excellent olive oil.

This can be a side dish or stand alone, it is so delicious!

Buon apetito!