Down by the River

Last night we met some friends down by the river. We always have fun when we hang out with this couple and it was great to be out for dinner. This is a shot of the streetlamps right outside the restaurant. I love the rustic, old cobblestones that line the street that runs right along the Mississippi River.

DE (the man in this couple) is a photographer and our plan was to shoot some nighttime images of the city after dinner. Unfortunately his camera batteries were dead, but that worked out great for me as he was able to focus on giving me tips. But, oops, I hadn't read my manual well enough to know which setting I needed to control the shutter speed. This morning I re-read my manual and discovered that it was one setting that I hadn't thought to try last night: bulb. Who would thought it would be "bulb"? Anyway, it turned out OK because I was shooting with my tripod which allowed for some incredible shots. I'll be posting these images over the next few days.

The Airstream coffee shops

On one of our last trips to Moab, Utah, we decided to take our return trip through southern Colorado. We spent the night in Cortez, then spent the next morning at Mesa Verde National Park near Durango, Co. On our way into Cortez we passed the Silver Bean Coffee Shop. If I remember this right, there were at least two locations for this coffee shop marked with an Airstream. What a wonderful idea!



We returned the next morning but a little too early. Neither of the coffee shops were open for business and since we were on a schedule and not wanting to pass up Mesa Verde, we moved on without coffee.



It was fun driving around the Airstream.



There seemed to be a whole lot of little coffee shops like this in southern Colorado, occupying the corner of a parking lot or in a crumbling little lot of its own. I didn't quite get it down right. I didn't know how to order the right amount of cream and sugar. Well, the sugar was easy enough, but there always seemed to be too much cream. Certainly, there are a number of coffee shops with drive-thrus here in MN. I just always go inside as there is often a seating area as well.

These my memories of southern Colorado: cute little drive-thru coffee shops and wonderful local breweries eager to send you along your way with a full growler. Yum.

A sort of dirty review of Kingsolver

I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I utterly engrossed in this book and totally fascinated with all the information. Warning: there may come a good number of posts about this book. And, truthfully, not all of this is new information. It's just that she's briliant at how she articulates some of this stuff and how she draws connections between themes that are highly relevant to this era.

On top of all that excitement, it seems that her growing season is similar to where my CSA is located so I'm getting to read her own enjoyment in growing many of the same vegetables. I'm glad I bought this book as I do intend to read it again next year during the local CSA season. There are great suggestions for cooking up the vegetables along with wonderful meditations about how to develop a sense of eating whatever is in season.

I've gotten ahead of myself - is that the right phrase? - who knows, I'm just so excited about all the above mentioned things that I'm just zipping through this, not thinking about structure or flow. ANYWAY, this book is a memoir about her family moving to a small farm in Virginia (I think. Somewhere in the Appalachians, that I know for sure) and more specifically, a year of growing, living and eating off the land.

My mind went into overload when she started talking about promiscuity being the basis for mainstream America's relationship with food. Interesting how she states that we encourage young people to wait a while before having sex, yet do not restrain ourselves from eating vegetables out of season, no matter how tasteless they may be, not thinking at all about the cost of transporting said vegetables from far-flung tropical locales (and thus maintaining our dependence on foreign oil supplies) - all this just to satisfy our craving for everything now. She says "We're raising our children on the definition of promiscuity if we feed them a casual, indiscriminate mingling of foods from every season plucked from the supermarket, ignoring how our sustenance is cheapened by wholesale desires" (31).

It seems to me that food and sensuality are intimately tied together. Wow! Look at all them puns in one sentence. Yes, I meant them all - the intimacy, the kinky ties, and all. This book is definitely full of fun puns and hot references. For example, her description of flowering plants gets quite sensual when she writes "since they can't engage in hot pursuit, they lure a third party, such as bees, into the sexual act..." (63).

Again, ANYWAY, now I turn my easily distractible mind to asparagus. It seems that growing a sustainable and successful crop of asparagus is somewhat like growing a good relationship. Asparagus takes years, at least three or four, until there is an edible harvest. And a "well-managed asparagus bed can keep producing for twenty to thirty years" (28). It is possible to abuse an asparagus bed and one can do this by prematurely whacking off any new shoots before the three years are up. To do so is to "make the plant sink into vegetable despair and die" (28). If one is patient then there is the reward of (and I love this phrase!) "an edible incarnation of the spring equinox" (29).



Did you know that asparagus were once considered an aphrodisiac? Or that the church banned it from nunneries? I think this has more to do with the shape of the asparagus stalk and the voluptuous nature of the plant rather than any bodily effects. This seems clear to me in this botanical drawing of asparagus.



And especially so in this image of steamed asparagus, all hot and slick with oil, ready to put in the mouth (sorry! I couldn't help myself!).



I'm having a great time these days thinking about food. I'm understanding the importance of my food co-op more and more as each day passes. Sadly, I had always thought of it as overpriced and overly concerned with gourmet tastes and appetites. I would only buy things there that I couldn't buy at the regular supermarket. But, now I'm making smarter decisions that help me fit it all into our limited budget, buying from the bulk bins, for example, or picking up three brown eggs and smaller portions of food stuffs. Also, buying in season is much cheaper, even at the regular supermarkets.

I hope you'll check this book out. It certainly was a wonderful surprise for me!

Autumn Mums

I can't decide if Autumn is my favorite season because of the bright changes to all the trees around me. Or because everything seems be in my favorite colors.

Weekend Fire and Bare Trees

Last weekend was so warm and wonderful. We headed up to our Airstream retreat and had one of those magical weekends full of love and life. The fire was warm and the firepit was filled with brown oak leaves.



The trees were bare and the geese flew in over our heads to their place just north of our property. Must be a nightly pit stop; we saw groups of geese converge on the spot from all different directions.



We awoke at about 3:00 in the morning to pee and the early morning sky was breathtaking, all glittering with stars and bright with a half moon shining to the northeast. Too cold for a picture, but I doubt that will leave my memory for a while.

I got very excited about bringing the little one up there to our retreat. Sadly though, the Big D had to prepare the boat for winter. The boating season is entirely too short up in this region. We only took the boat out a couple of times and the canoe only saw the water once. Hopefully next summer things will be different.

My Yoga Partners

Faithful and true. These two always join me on the mat. Sometimes it can get a bit crowded or one of them get a little scratchy or bitey. Nonetheless I welcome the company.

Annona Gourmet and squash bread

I have such interesting experiences when I head into Annona Gourmet. The first time I was in there I did shots of olive oil. Who knew you could do such things. This time I did some shots of flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegar blends. I needed olive oil and I really like the idea of being able to refill my bottle every time I need to buy more. I also get a 50 cent discount when I bring in the bottle. I purchased Arbequina which apparently is just fine for cooking but also great on vegetables. I only tried a couple this time and remember thinking this one had a clean, light finish on it and yet, still full of flavor. It's pictured here on the left. The larger bottle on the right side is the black cherry balsamic vinegar I bought last time.

I couldn't get out of the store without trying out something else. The minute we walked in we were handed a sample of a rice blend which of course, I ended up buying. I tell people I have to stop sampling because inevitably I'll buy whatever I like. Of course, that doesn't stop anyone from handing me more.

This visit's spectacular find was a blend of lime olive oil and coconut balsamic vinegar. Ok, everybody now...put your lime in the coconut...oh, never mind....here, just look at the two little bottles in the middle of this great line-up.



It was suggested that we cook shrimp in this blend. Oh. My. Goodness. I'm heading to coastal seafood right now...right freaking now...to get some shrimp.

We also tried a blood orange olive oil and black currant vinegar which was mouth-wateringly gooooood. Going to buy those two next time. Hey! I just realized I did good. I didn't buy everything that tasted wonderful. Must have been the Big D's steadfast influence on my side.

The owner of this fabulous store suggested we might need some bread. Hah! I already had plans to make bread that afternoon and so, I did. Whoo-hoo! My first loaf of bread. It was a squash braid.



I did good! Can you tell I'm excited! Ok. Gotta run and get my shrimp! Bye.