Friday we headed over the Cascades to Yakima for a sour cherry bonanza! We set out at 7:15 AM with a quick stop at Larsen's Bakery to fuel up. By 10 AM, we were picking at Barrett Orchards.

  

Veronica and Carl gleaned two of the five pie cherry trees. Pickings were slim, we picked one tree completely bare. After 45 minutes, we had seven pounds to show for our labors. The U-pick price was $1.50 per pound and I really needed at least 40 to make my travel worth it. Barrett sells loose cherries from their commercial Organic orchard. I purchased two 20 pound boxes at $1.79/pound.

These are the two boxes of pre-picked Organic cherries.

I drove home with 47 pounds. The highlight of the day was the temperature. We left before the temps really climbed. The Friday max 95 and Saturday saw 99. We were home pitting before seeing any temperature above 85.

  

Veronica's friend Alicia came over to help pit. These cherries were some of the best we have ever picked. Clean, plump, and easy to pit. After a quick rinse, the pitting began. We started pitting about 3 PM and had all 47 pounds done by the time Judy got home from work. 

 

It took three batches in the canner and we have 18 quarts. Judy and I packed the jars a little on the high side and added about two ounces of a very light sugar syrup to top off each jar.

Let the Cherry Pies Begin!!

Veronica requested a change in her hair style so we headed off to Rudy's for a little pizzazz.

 

These are the before pictures. The whole process took about 90 minutes. Kimberly, the stylist, enjoyed Veronica because she was the first customer all week to actually talk. Veronica told Kim about her rafting trip this week, upcoming Mountain Biking Camp, and our trip planned to SoCal later this summer.

  

Good friend Emma joined us for moral support.

  

The final product!

 

Proud dad took them out for lunch. Hamburger Harry's. Nobody ordered the Peanut Butter Bacon burger! I censored the picture of Emma and Veronica eating their burgers! Twelve years old, devouring 900 cal burgers, an Oreo shake, and still hungry!

 

 

As Pastor Erik left for a six week course at Luther Seminary, he asked me to organize a monthly brunch at Nyer Urness House. Today was our first brunch.

The service line, dining room, and myself grilling asparagus.

We served:

Caesar Salad
Baked Ham (Carved to order)
Au gratin Potatoes
Oven roasted or Grilled Asparagus
Vegetarian Lasagna
Assorted Cookies

...for 50 people. Someone has too much faith in me. Luckily, my co-organizer is Lance Lafave. He cooks for the University of Washington athletic department.

My day started at 7 AM packing a lunch for Veronica. She headed off to a three day rafting trip with LYONS. I then packed ten head of lettuce, ten pounds of asparagus, croutons, parmesan cheese, and lemons for the brunch. I included a chef jacket, knife roll, coffee cup, and camera. The house is only a mile or two away but near downtown Ballard. I did not look forward to parking issues so I loaded up the trailer and rode the bike. At 9 AM, Lance and I reviewed our meal plan.

It appears our meal went off without a hitch. Thank you Pastor Laurie for your confidence in the event.

The day was not over! Judy prepped quail, scallions (fresh from the farmers market), and cornbread for dinner.

After some sangria and a few good friends stopping in for a visit, I fired up the grill. Grilling scallions is my new thing. Carl and I love them. These larger ones were very juicy and sweet. Judy's skillet cornbread used a pint of corn relish we canned last year.

After grilling ten pounds of asparagus on the flat top, I felt confident I could manage the quail. These were seasoned and grilled about eight minutes a side, careful not to burn. We each ate at least two. Definitely finger food, I would love to cook these up for an outdoor dinner party or picnic.

Just to be clear, I big shout out to Lance LaFave, Pr. Laurie, and all the helpers from BFL. Judy prepped a beautiful dinner the whole family enjoyed.

Today we turned in our rental 3/4 size cello. Veronica has a gig on July 7 and hopes to begin private cello lessons this summer. Kennelly Keys set aside a selection of previously owned cellos for us to try. Veronica selected this fine specimen and we brought it home.

 

Now that we have a cello of our own, I tasked Veronica to come up with a name before school starts in September. Feel free to post your ideas!

 

With the grandparents arriving, I decided to tackle a Copper River salmon. Central Market carries whole salmon (head off) at $10/lb. This six pound fish is my first attempt at filleting.

I spent twenty minutes with the knife sharpener before making the first cut. The main cut went well. I even spooned all the excess flesh to make a salmon burger!

 

Pin bones are the easiest. Here I am showing off my first fillet.

The going rate for Copper River fillets right now is about $40/lb. By purchasing the whole fish I not only save on price, I also have the scraps to make into other dishes. The collar will get grilled as an appetizer. I plan to grill the whole fillet, skin on and serve it with a light sauce. Tonight is grilled salmon with tarragon basil mayonnaise, grilled asparagus, and a pasta salad.

Thank you Judy for the pictures, my salmon class at The Pantry at Delancey, and all your love.

Étienne turned seven on Tuesday! On Monday, he made fudge He took fudge to school to pass out to his class. Note the Wonka t-shirt.

 

 

He opened the family presents, and we took the traditional mother-child birthday picture.

 

 

He chose ribs for dinner, and requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

 

Saturday was Étienne's party. He invited four boys from his school, plus next-door neighbor Samuel. (And Samuel's twin sister Ava hung out quite a bit too.) Here, Étienne preps for the party by helping Carl pick up from behind the couch.

 

The boys decorated monster Shrinky Dinks when they arrived. Remember those?

 

 

Veronica and her friend Emma filled 200 water balloons for the boys, so we sent them outside!

 

 

Oh, also, there were bubbles.

 

It was getting a little crazy so I opted to stay on the deck and hand out root beers from above.

 

 

It was every wo/man for themselves. Middle schoolers Veronica & Emma had no problem taking on the pack of seven-year-olds.

 

After about five minutes, the water balloons were all gone and we moved to the deck so Étienne could open his presents.

 

Live action:

 

Then, everyone had ice cream sundaes.

 

I think everyone had a good time. The Seattle weather certainly cooperated with us!

Veronica managed her time to complete this certification. Yesterday, Étienne fell while running down the sidewalk. The knee was skinned, scrapped, and bleeding. I found Veronica in the bathroom talking calmly to Étienne while applying direct pressure with a sterile pad to the cut. There were no tears and Étienne seemed fine. I asked Veronica where she learned this First Aid skill. She told me "The Red Cross Babysitting course". Go Veronica!

Some cool stats from this month...

School enrollment is approximately 430

*36.3% of the students at our school registered in Bike to School month (up from 28% last year).
*2/3 of the registrants were K-2nd graders
*174 kids biked to school on Friday
*we have averaged 110 bikes at school each day throughout May
*20 teachers participated in the bike train led by Principal Floyd on Friday. I'm not aware of any other school in the district that had such high faculty involvement...our teachers are great!!!

Now that it's June, there are flowers blooming in every yard here. I brought the camera and on our walk to church, I took pictures of my favorites.

On our block, lavender and poppies:

 

 

 

Continuing south, daisies and big frilly poppies:

 

 

From the top of Loyal Heights, a view of the cruise ships coming into Elliot Bay:

 

Walking down the hill towards Central Ballard, front yards with lavender, poppies and kale:

 

 

Turning the corner towards Salmon Bay Park, more daisies. One block north of church, poppies, roses, and a big flowering shrub:

  

 

At church! The flowers are a little sparse right now, but we planted red columbines for Pentecost (in front of the lavender) and hopefully they will fill in soon.

 

 

After church, walking back home, a slightly different route.  Traffic circle, and lots of front & side yard vegetable gardens with tomatoes, lettuce, and rhubarb:

 

 

 

Roses, daisies, and poppies:

 

 

Lots of color:

  

 

 Turning the corner back onto our block:

 

 Our temperatures are supposed to be in the 80's next week, so no June Gloom so far this year! Enjoy the sunshine!

Today Carl and dad took a Parent/Child cooking class at The Pantry at Delancey. We made Tamales!

  

Our instructor Paige showed complete mastery of the dish and kept the kids interested. The long room has space for the beautiful work table down the middle and that was about it. Several hand washing stations line the room and an eight burner commercial range completes the kitchen. The age bracket for this class was 6-12, plus an adult. The children were tasked with cutting (using a real knife, thank you), operating a stand mixer, and even using a stick blender. My hat is off to the Pantry, this was real cooking with no shortcuts. Peppers were grilled, pealed/seeded, and chopped. We made the masa, three fillings, and two salsas to compliment our tamales. We discussed when to freeze, and how to make a sweet tamale.

 

Megan, Carl, and Raina (age 6) stuff tamales. Carl tastes Salsa Verde, made from scratch.

This class was the real deal. No plastic spoons for tasting and everyone (staff included) ate the results. We saved the most and best for the dishwasher in a back room. Paige had two assistants that never slowed down. They cleared work stations, prepped the next step, assisted with anything you may need, and made the whole two and a half hours fun, rewarding, and meaningful.

The Pantry kitchen is available for hire, parties, family reunions, wine and cheese parties (one class makes goat cheese), anything! Someday I hope to design my own class for family and friends.