Tag: food
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…and to all a good night
Shooting grainy on-the-fly night photos doesn’t always yield the best results, but it’s done a great job of documenting this year’s Season of Light. I hope yours is as warm and bright as ours has been, and that you are surrounded by joy while the sun makes its way back to us. Good Yule, and…
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Berry jamboree
Because we’re having a record-hot summer this year, everything is coming into season early. And it’s all ripening at once, which made us look at the shelf of canning jars in panic. But there was nothing for it but to dive in and start filling jars (and jars and jars).
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Their favorite time of year
To me this season is not about a certain day, or even a series of holidays—it’s a collection of moments. It’s those moments that I cherish above anything else—especially when they happen with the people I love best, in this part of the world I call home. I hope your season, however you might celebrate…
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Sweet surprise
At long last, Tacoma has a real ice cream parlor—I can’t tell you how many years we’ve waited for this. Today I stood in line for the best coffee ice cream I’ve had in years, and while I waited my turn to pay, I noticed something familiar behind the counter! It was our Just Desserts…
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The canning season
It’s the time of year where our kitchen is a lot hotter—and the days much longer—than anything summer might throw at us naturally. The Tailor and I have been up late with the dilly beans, out at dawn at the Blueberry Park, and across the mountains to get peaches right off the tree. And then…
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Quelle surprise!
Hey, everyone—Gilles is back! He’s here for Thanksgiving, but that meal’s not until tomorrow—so what do you think our favorite Frenchman would choose to serve up for lunch? Fresh, raw, Pacific Northwest oysters, of course. But I’d better stop blogging and get back to the table—before he eats them all!
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Pass me a plateful, I’ll be grateful
You know what might just be the best thing about fall? It’s pumpkin pie season again!
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Tea for two
No stay at the Empress is complete without sitting down to Afternoon Tea. Now, I love a good cuppa no matter where I am, but leaning back in a squashy chair and gazing upward at something like this makes every sip a little more special. The Empress has been pouring tea every afternoon since it…
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A rare treat
The Tailor and I were talking today about holiday traditions. In his family, it’s standard fare to find an orange in one’s stocking on Christmas morning. He’s originally from Kansas, where the tradition hearkens back to the days when citrus fruit was an exotic luxury. I remember my grandmother telling me a similar story about…
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When in Rome
Many of my favorite towns (Boulder, Missoula, Portland, the other Portland, Duluth, Tacoma, Providence, etc.) seem to be kindred spirits to one another. There’s something about the coming-together of historic architecture, blue-collar grittiness, a population full of creative types and surrounding natural beauty that … well, for which I’m a total sucker. So based on…