Raspberries

Whenever we have friends visit from out of town, we inevitably take them to Pike Place Market.  It’s one of the quintessential Seattle stops for every visitor/tourist, but surprisingly, it’s one that never gets old.  Every time we go, I always remember how much I love the Market, and I always wonder to myself, “why don’t I come here more often?”  Yes, the produce is a bit overpriced, and it can be painfully crowded (especially if the weather is nice and/or it’s the weekend), but it’s still a pretty cool place to walk through since it’s almost always a little different every time I go.  I’ve even toyed with the idea of trying to visit every single eatery in and around the Market over the course of a year and blogging about it.  Maybe someday.  Might need to win the lottery first.

On this day, it was a bit gray and rainy (as usual), but seeing these gorgeously vibrant raspberries was a nice reminder that spring is coming…eventually.

Can-o-rama

From left: row 1, roasted red pepper spread; rows 2-3, strawberry-vanilla jam; rows 4-5, mango-peach chutney.

One thing I am absolutely loving about living in the PNW is the amazing produce to be found at every turn!  Yesterday, Troy took the kiddo out and about for most of the afternoon so that I could have a crazy canning spree.  I loaded up on red peppers at the local produce market the other day, then roasted & pureed them and stuck them in the fridge.  It took me forever to get them all peeled and seeded, but I was really glad I had that part out of the way so I could cook the recipe (from Ball’s website) the day of and can it while hot. I probably didn’t cook it down enough, since I got more than the 5 half-pints they listed, but it seemed plenty thick. I also felt it was a wee bit too sour, so I added a bit of sugar to counter it.

I had 4 lbs of strawberries in the fridge that I’d found on super sale, so when someone mentioned on strawberry-vanilla jam on Facebook, I knew I had to make it. The recipe is from my friend, Jacki’s blog.  She is more or less my canning guru. 😉

The mango-peach chutney was supposed to originally be jam, but since I lost a few peaches to mold and we had frozen samosas in the freezer, I called an audible and changed it up at the last minute. The recipe is mostly based on the one found here.  I didn’t have any peppers, plus I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to spicy stuff, so I subbed a tiny pinch of cayenne.

Picnic Dinner

Hummus, yogurt spread, baby carrots, giant sugar snap peas, Applegate farms salami, some local cheese (I forget what kind), rice crackers, rosemary focaccia with olive oil & balsamic for dipping, and organic berries. Phew, that was a mouthful!

E and I hit up the neighborhood farmers market, where I might have gone a little bit overboard with random purchases that didn’t necessarily constitute a real dinner. So instead, I just threw everything together, added a few odds and ends like some hummus, zucchini fries (not pictured), and veggies, we had ourselves a lovely little picnic dinner. E was highly amused by the concept.  She said, “snacks for DINNER?!”  Ha!

Kid Lunch

Ham sandwich, string cheese and strawberries

Sorry for the super lame post but it’s been hectic around these parts, plus we’ve all been down with some sort of horrible summer cold/cough.  This was the best I could manage, especially since my kid kept trying to snatch her plate away and inadvertently photo-bombing.

Watermelon

I couldn’t resist picking up some of the first (local) watermelon of the season.  I’m not usually a huge watermelon person, but it was perfectly juicy and sweet.

Since we don’t go through it very fast, I usually chop up the whole melon into large chunks and store it in the fridge.

Frozen Yogurt

Avocado tart, strawberry tart, and plain tart frozen yogurt with fresh mango and blueberries and slivered almonds.

I’m a bad blogger today. Late with yesterday’s post (thank goodness for backdating), almost late with today’s post, and now a cell phone pic for today’s post. And to be honest, not sure if tomorrow will bring anything better.  What can I say, except that it’s hard to eat pretty food every day? Don’t be surprised if by the end of the year, the pics are of things like, a bag of Cheetos and a can of Coke Zero. Ha.