David Ross

Wow, thanks for bringing back some wonderful Thai food memories. Yes, I do remember Bai Tong. A lot of people who worked in the airline industry and at the airport used to go there. It was good, spicy Thai food at cheap prices. I am not sure, but I think it has been out of business a couple of years. There has been a lot of construction in that area and that may have sealed the fate of Bai Tong. They widened the street and added a center island between the lanes. There is currently a big project being built right outside the back door of the site of Bai Tong. The local governments approved building a light rail to the airport-a much needed mode of transportation that will help ease some of Seattle's terrible traffic congestion around the airport. I never tried the black sticky rice pudding at Bai Tong but it sounds very interesting. I do remember they had very good Pad Thai and there was a spicy chicken stir-fry (can't remember the name) that was also a favorite.

I'm in the middle of cooking while watching "Are You Being Served?" on PBS. Hmm, British comedy from the 70's while cooking potatoes. The rhubarb chutney stewed down to a thick, spicy and fragrant relish, but I've got to let it cool in the refrigerator overnight so I'm going to subsitute something I had been keeping in the fridge. It is a bottle of 'Marionberry' syrup. Yeah! Another Northwest product and one I had totally forgotten was in the drawer of the fridge. I bought it last Summer at 'Baumann Farms' fruit stand just outside Salem, Oregon. Should go well with that rich duck confit.

Well, my fellow Northwesterner won. Yes, Tom beat Morimoto in the Salmon battle on Iron Chef. Great job Tom! My favorite dish Tom did was a roasted salmon 'collar.' The salmon collar comes from just behind the head of the salmon where the gills meet the body of the fish. The meat is very oily, fatty and juicy. The best way to eat it is with your hands so you can suck all the juice out of the salmon. Tom just roasted it and that was it. The garnishes were just for show in my opinion. The salmon collar looked delicious.

Thank you thank you thank you, Amen and Alleluia. I love Ming, I think he's adorable (not to mention sexy.... ) but I absolutely want to b*tch-slap him silly every time he says "GUYS". Just sets my teeth on edge. And Julia is the BEST. And always will be. ← Oh thank you, thank you. MING ARE YOU AN eGULLETEER? If you hear us, please stop now. No more 'you guys.' Last week it got so bad I turned it off. Ming-it's not hard-try something like "o.k. folks, now we are going to plate the stir-fried scallops and brocolli." That's right, "folks." It's safer and less abrasive than calling grown adults "guys."

Earlier today I mentioned that I once heard Julia Child say that Cheetos were her favorite junk food snack. Another time she mentioned she liked a Big Mac, but not as much as a 'real hamburger' grilled on the barbecue at home. I consider myself a serious foodie, but I also have the occasional appetite for a bit of junk food. Do you to? Am I going to be the only one to embarass myself on the blog and admit my most recent junk food binge? Yes, I admit it-I bought a box of the 'new Twinkies.' You probably heard that about a month ago Hostess made a big deal out of the national debut of the 'original' Twinkies. The original Twinkie was filled with banana cream. When bananas got too expensive during the War, the switched to vanilla cream. Yes, I'm eating a duck confit tongiht and I ate a Twinkie last week. I don't recommend them though, the banana filling is really sweet and it has a metallic sort of banana twang. The box had 10 Twinkies-and there are still 8 of them left. I guess they will be good for another 20 years or so.

While I am not a fan of 'The Next Food Network Star,' I do love Iron Chef-both the original series from Tokyo and 'Iron Chef America.' Currently in our time zone in the Northwest, Seattle Chef Tom Douglas is against Morimoto. If you've seen it don't tell me who won. I have personally met Chef Douglas on two occasions. On the first, Tom was the judge of my first competition on 'MasterChef USA' on PBS for the Pacific Northwest cookoff. Imagine how nervous I was! Cooking for one of the top chefs in the Northwest. I won that round, so I guess Tom liked my 'Salt and Pepper Prawns with Chinese Cabbage Slaw.' I also did a 'Fragant Spice Pork with Litchee Conserve and Green Onion Noodles,' and then for dessert, 'Puff Pastry Stars with Apple Compote and Candied Ginger Ice Cream.' Thanks Tom. I then hosted a food charity event in the 'Tri-Cities,' in central Washington. The tri-cities are Pasco, Richland and Kennewick. Tom had a booth at the event selling his books and spice rubs and did a couple of demos. Tom is very outgoing and friendly-his personality is as big as he is, and that's big! After MasterChef some of us who competed from the Northwest went to Tom's 'Dahlia Lounge' in Seattle for dinner. Tom hosted us with appetizers and a champagne toast and then treated us to many courses off his menu, all seasonal Northwest fare. Tonight Tom and Morimoto are going head to head in a wild salmon battle. They must have a big budget for this show, they have so many whole, wild Chinook salmon it probably cost them a fortune.

I wanted to add that I think the cooks on 'Top Chef' are pretty talented-both technically in their execution and creatively in the dishes that they come up with. They seem to work well under pressure and I think most of them would be comfortable in any good kitchen. My complaint is in the 'dramatic' element of this show and the focus weighs far too heavy on conflict rather than cooking.

While I am writing the blog today I am watching Food Network. I'm watching Food Network because the cooking shows on my local PBS station are done for the day and "Simply Magic-Cooking with Heart and Soul" with Kylie Kwong won't be on Discovery Home for three more hours. I wrote the above comments a couple of weeks ago in the 'Next Food Network Star' forum. I wanted to tell you a little about what I think of the state of cooking on television today. My list for the best in food and cooking on televison today is: -Most shows on PBS with the exception of 'Simply Ming' with Ming Tsai. If Ming says "guys" to the viewers less than 30 times a show that would be a record. I like Ming and I like his recipes. I like the guests he has on the show and I like it when he ventures into a kitchen in Hong Kong to wok-fry crabs. I don't like Ming when he refers to viewers, including women, as "guys you need to clean the cutting board after you cut-up a chicken." We are not "guys" so don't call us something that sounds unprofessional and childish. -Kylie Kwong "Simply Magic-Cooking with Heat and Soul" on Discovery Home. Ms. Kwong is stylish, sexy and knows her ingredients and how to cook them. She does get at the 'Heart and Soul' of Asian cooking through her tours of dark little alleys in Shanghai where peasant women are steaming dumplings. Her seductive, at least for me, Australian accent adds to the allure of the presentation. And while there is plenty of mood-inducing music and an 'aromatherapy' feel to the graphics and tone of the show, it works. -Most (see Gordon Ramsay below) cooking shows on BBC America that is devoted to food and cooking. I find it sexy and intriguing to hear a Brit call sugar 'Caster Sugar' and a zucchinni a 'Courgette.' Of course, there are multiple pronunciations for all manner of foodstuffs, but a British accent just sounds cool and old-fashioned at the same time. My list for the worst in food and cooking on television today is: -See "The Next Food Network Star" and "Top Chef" above. I watched the latest episode of "The Next Food Network Star" today. If I can't congratulate the contestants in any way, I do give some kudos to the panel of judges. Not for producing this show, but for the honesty in their comments. I don't know the names of any of the contestants nor do I care to learn them. One lady who was let go last week-the one who walked into the set on day one in leather, hot pink go-go pants and thigh-high pink leather boots-was booted off. The head judge, I think he's in Marketing or Production or something, said "Our viewers can spot someone who is fake 500 miles away." Right on dude! Like most 'reality' shows on television, some of the contestants on "The Next Food Network Star" don't realize it isn't about being catty or bitchy to the other contestants. It isn't about scripting your own sense of drama. It should be, but isn't, about the food and cooking. Sure, the viewer has to like you and you have to have the type of personality that connects you to people. But you also have to know about food and cooking and be able to do it under the pressures of television. The 'entertainment' shtick value of this show gets in the way of the food. -"Hell's Kitchen" on Fox with Gordon Ramsay. I haven't visited the "Hell's Kitchen" forum yet, but I'll start my rant here. This show is even worse than "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" and "Gordon Ramsay's 'F' Word' on BBC America. No, the 'F' doesn't stand for that. It apparently means 'Food.' At least Gordon makes attempts at focusing on food in the 'F Word.' He raised two 'organic' pigs in his backyard on the 'F Word.' He was trying his animal husbandry at raising 'heirloom pigs' to see if they tasted better than factory pigs. After the rendering service came to his home and slaughtered and gutted the poor beasts, Gordon cooked them. He said it tasted better than store-bought pig. Gordon has made a living out of telling people to (bleep) off. He is incredibly rude and unprofessional. It may make for good tv, but isn't that the Fox way? I have met many fine chefs and I doubt that they became successful for shouting profanities at strangers. It really is a disgrace. This year, there is a man on "Hell's Kitchen" that has a kidney disorder which has stunted his growth. Fox certainly didn't position this poor guy from the standpoint that they were trying to 'help' show that someone who is disabled can have a career in the kitchen. Well they can. Anyone, should be given the opportunity to have a career in cooking regardless of the obstacles. They may not make it, but they should be given the chance. I was really disgusted that Fox played this up, knowing that there were would be a 'Jerry Springer' factor to showcasing this type of contestant. I hope this guy wins it all and opens the best new restaurant in LA in 2008! I'll have to go on another computer and give you some links to stories I wrote about my own experiences with cooking on a 'reality' show on television-'MasterChef USA' on PBS about six years ago. I'll post the links tommorrow. I will also give you a link to a story on Julia Child, still my favorite cook on television. I've got to get into the kitchen now and start dinner. Fig and Anise bread with Melted Bleu Cheese, Candied Hazelnuts and Mixed Greens. Lots of Washington white wine. Duck Confit with Rhubarb Chutney, Peas-Pea Shoots-Carrots, 'Pommes de Terre Macaire.' Lots of Washington red wine. Bing Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate-Almond Tuiles. Bed.

The two best Rosauer's now are the one on the South Hill on 29th and the one on East Sprague in the Valley. I think they did remodel the older store on Lincoln, but it is very small. I don't think the Taqueria is still there. Thanks for the nice comments about the coffee cake. I started with an old recipe for 'Blueberry Buckle' out of a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, then added the huckleberries, almonds and crumb topping concoction on my own. I added some melted butter to the top just before cutting the coffee cake into squares. Here is the recipe: 1/2 cup shortening 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 2 cups flour 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup milk Cream the shortening and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the egg to the shortening and sugar. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and then add to the shortening mixture. With the mixer running, add the milk and combine the batter. Spread the batter in a 8" square baking pan. 1 cup blueberries or huckleberries, rinsed and drained Sprinkle the top of the batter with the huckleberries. 3/4 cup sliced almonds Spread the sliced almonds around the huckleberries on top of the batter. Mix the crumb topping ingredients in a small bowl. I used my fingers to put little dabs of the topping all over the top of the coffee cake. 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup flour 1/4 cup melted butter cinnamon nutmeg Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. I let the coffee cake cool about 20 minutes before cutting it.

We have a number of small Farmer's Markets in the Spokane and Couer d'Alene area. Our Farmer's Markets are certainly not huge in scale like the market down in Los Angeles, but we hold our own. Our local markets are usually open on both Wednesday's and Saturday's. There are a lot of locally grown, seasonal products available that give cook's wonderful ideas for supper. Here are some photos of what was available at the Spokane Farmer's Market this morning: The farmer told me that 'Garlic Scapes' are tender shoots of spring garlic with a seed bud just starting to form on top. They are delicious served fresh in a salad or served hot in a stir-fry dish. There was an Asian family of women at this wonderful produce stand. I love these fresh, baby daikon radishes. This was the highlight of the market for me-a bakery that was selling individual brioche! I have searched for brioche in Spokane for a few years and finally, fresh out of the oven! They were selling for $1.75 each. Earlier in the week I talked about 'Bing' and 'Ranier' cherries. Now you see them fresh-picked at the Farmer's Market. It may seem late to you that we are selling cherries a week away from the 1st of July. But it takes that long for our warm weather to kick in and give the cherries that last few weeks of sweet ripening. You can see that the Ranier's are 50cents more per pound than the Bings. The Raniers were picked in orchards over in the Yakima Valley which is in the South, Central part of Washington. I hope you may have had time to read my story on asparagus a few pages back. Here is a photo of our beautiful local asparagus. The stalks aren't too fat, not too skinny. I think it was selling for $2.50 a bunch. I came away with a bag of fresh pea greens, one of those puffy little Brioche and a 'Fig and Anise' loaf of freshly baked bread. We'll see the pea greens and the fig bread later tonight.

If you are like me, you don't eat a 'good breakfast'-during your work week. But on the weekend-oh the weekend-and breakfast. Food memories are some of my best memories from my childhood. My paternal Grandparents lived on a ranch in Prineville, Oregon in 'Ochoco' County in the central part of the state. My Grandfather cooked Sunday breakfast. On every single Sunday he made the same thing-pancakes. I don't know if he made the batter by hand or if it came out of a box. It didn't matter. They were delicious-light, yet doughy and a bit tangy. Grandfather's pancakes always had that consistent, golden-brown, delicate crust that only short-order cooks at diners seem to be able to pull-off. I guess it's because his pancakes were so wonderful that I rarely try to make them at home on the weekend. While I didn't make pancakes today, I did make another one of my favorite breakfasts-poached egg on toast. Now don't think it's easy to poach an egg. It really isn't-at least for me. It took me about three years to finally get my technique down for poaching the perfect egg. The ingredients? Just three. One fresh egg, some white vinegar and some water. That's all-no salt or pepper until the end. You could probably change up the flavor of the vinegar, but if you do I don't think you would get the egg white to come out so brilliant. Oh boy have I been reading the thread about Alan Richman and the people who took umbrage over his comments about the $8 organic eggs in San Francisco. I'm not going to get into that today! I will tell you though that in order to get a perfect poached egg you have to start with fresh eggs. If they aren't fresh, the egg white won't blanket itself around the yolk. I buy 'naturally nested' local eggs. The hens are fed an all-natural, organic vegetable diet and are allowed to run around out in the open and peck at bugs and grass. They do taste better than standard eggs and they seem to gel up better for poached eggs over the standard ones. What you see here is the stirring of the water with a chopstick. I use chopsticks in the kitchen almost as much as I use my knives. They are incredibly adaptable to just about anything you need to do. I use about 2 tablespoons of vinegar to a full saucepan of water. I don't let the water boil, or even simmer. I put the egg in when the water is steaming really well but there are no bubbles coming up from the bottom of the pan. I guess I'd call it 'medium-high' temperature water. The vinegar helps the white of the egg set. The reason you stir the water is to create a little 'eddy' or tidepool of water circling around the pan. Then you gently slip in the egg and the white should immediately start to swirl around and encase the yolk. The egg is perfectly poached after about 3-4 minutes. This is the final poached egg breakfast. I love, love, but don't eat, eat, much bacon. I serve poached eggs on buttered toast. But my trick for toast is to 'fry' it in a hot pan with butter so that the toast gets evenly browned. I find that a toaster makes the toast 'curl' as it gets hot. The photo isn't as clear as I would have liked, but you get the idea. The yolk is set around the edges of the egg white, but the center is runny and gooey. The toast soaks up all that eggy juice. Delicious.

If you are like me, you don't eat a-what should we say 'good breakfast'-during your work week. But on the weekend-oh the weekend-and breakfast. Food memories are some of my best memories from my childhood. My paternal Grandparents lived on a ranch in Prineville, Oregon in 'Ochoco' County in the central part of the state. My Grandfather cooked Sunday breakfast. On every single Sunday he made the same thing-pancakes. I don't know if he made the batter by hand or if it came out of a box. It didn't matter. They were the delicious-light, yet doughy and a bit tangy. Grandfather's pancakes always had that consistent, golden-brown, delicate crust that only short-order cooks at diners seem able to pull-off. I guess it's because his pancakes were so wonderful that I rarely try to make them at home on the weekend. While I didn't make pancakes today, I did make another one of my favorite breakfasts-poached egg on toast. Now don't think it's easy to poach an egg. It really isn't-at least for me. It took me about three years to finally get my technique down for poaching the perfect egg. The ingredients? Two cost a couple of coins and one is free. One fresh egg, some white vinegar and some water. That's all-no salt or pepper until the end. You could probably change up the flavor of the vinegar, but if you do I don't think you would get the egg white to come out so brilliant.

My Mother, who is now 83, would be someone who would have put canned, diced pineapple in coleslaw. I don't know if she got the inspiration (if that is what you would call it), from Beard. Housewives in the 1950's loved putting stuff like pineapple in coleslaw. Better yet, how about that pickled carrot that my Mother put in pineapple aspic! Yuck.

Ok everyone, I apologize for being slow yesterday and this morning. I've got the computer issues resolved. Last night I made an easy dinner of 'Soup and Salad.' Not what sounds like a 'gourmet' meal-but it actually turned out very gourmet and was uniquely Northwest in flavors. The salad was simple mixed greens tossed with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. But what made the salad unique were the garnishes-bleu cheese and 'candied hazelnuts.' Just take some raw hazelnuts and put them in a pie pan. Roast them in a 400 degree oven for about 12-15 minutes or just until they turn brown. Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and put them on a cotton kitchen towel. Wrap the towel around the hazelnuts. This 'steams' the nuts and loosens the skins. Rub the towel and the hazelnuts for a few seconds and the outer brown skin or the 'husks' will rub off. Then roughly chop some of the hazelnuts and leave some others whole. Heat some butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne pepper in a saute pan. Add about a tablespoon of corn syrup and a tablespoon of water and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the hazelnuts and turn the heat down to medium and cook the nuts for about 10 minutes to 'candy' them. Spoon the candied hazelnuts into a bowl to cool. Once the hazelnuts are cooled you can break off some of the candied hazelnuts to garnish your salad. The candied hazelnuts keep in a covered container about a month. You get the crunchy, nutty, woodsy taste of hazelnut, a bit of spice from the cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne, then finally some sweet, candy-brittle crunch from the brown sugar. It's a simple but delicious and different salad. I couldn't find any locally made bleu cheese so I bought some bleu cheese made by the Amish in Pennslyvannia. The Rogue Creamery in Southern Oregon makes very good bleu cheese. I was raised in Salem, Oregon in the Willamette Valley. Salem is the State Capitol and is about an hours drive South of Portland. We grow a lot of 'filbert' trees in the Willamette Valley. When I was a kid all we called the nuts were 'filberts. I know, it doesn't sound trendy enough for the marketing folks does it? It was probably sometime during the 1980's that the filbert marketing board decided they needed to change the name of the little round nut back to the name it is called back in its birthplace in Europe-the 'Hazelnut.' Well, being the nuts that we are in the Northwest, we protested at first because we thought it was sacriligeous to call a filbert a hazelnut. But we went along and of course the marketing gurus were right. The sale of Northwest hazelnuts took off and continues to grow. On occasion I'll still call them filberts just to throw somebody off track, like a waiter in a restaurant. "didn't you mean to tell me those were filberts on my trout?" The 'soup' was 'Ivar's Clam Chowder.' Ivar's is a Seattle institution and they have a number of casual chip and chowder houses around the Puget Sound area and in food court malls throughout the Northwest. I was surprised to see hot, fresh, Ivar's Clam Chowder at the hot soup bar in the grocery store deli. I couldn't resist so I brought a quart home. I dressed up the chowder with some smoked salmon from a company in Oregon City, Oregon, just South of Portland. Sorry, forgot to get the name of the company and a photo. The salmon was hot smoked over Alderwood and it was very oily and juicy. We use a lot of Sockeye Salmon for smoking in the Northwest because the Sockeye has a lot of natural oils that keep the fish moist during smoking.

Yes, you are right, Mr. Beard! I am off for a couple of hours to get some more groceries, and then I'll be back to start on the Rhubarb Chutney.

THank you for your kind comments. Today I plan to post some more meal photos and photos of what I have planned for tonight's dinner. I'm also going to talk about the Las Vegas dining scene and then the 'closer' to the week tommorrow-a short tale about another man from the Northwest who made a huge impact on the way American cooks and eats. Thanks again and enjoy your weekend.

What a great story ! He sounds like a special man, and his attitude reminds me a lot of Jacques Pepin. Simple, straightfoward, no pretense. Just about the craft and the results. Gotta love it ! ETA: By the way, I have loved the rest of your blog as well, and am very much looking forward to the next couple of days. It's impressive that you cook as you do with your schedule. ← THank you so much for the recognition of my blog. I'll be talking about another very humble and gracious French Chef-Guy Savoy. (You probably saw the photo I posted of Chef Savoy inviting me into his restaurant in Las Vegas). Like Soltner and Pepin, Savoy is gracious and accomodating. You might even call him a simple man if you met him. But these great chefs all seem to share that sense of quiet confidence and the ambition to serve others through their food. The recognition from the customer after a delicious dinner is their number one goal. I'm off to our small farmer's market to get some rhubarb to make a rhubarb compote to serve with some duck tonight!

The first cookbook I showed was the 'New Boston Cooking School Cookbook' by Fannie Farmer, published in the early 20th century. Another one of my cherished books was written by Andre Soltner at the end of the 20th century in the mid 1990's. Chef Soltner had retired from Lutece and was on a book tour. I met him at a book signing he did at Powell's Books for Cooks in Portland, Oregon. I will never forget how comfortable and relaxed Chef Soltner made everyone feel. For serious foodies, it was like meeting a celebrity but Chef Soltner was not at all pretentious. I'll never forget when someone asked him about his 'celebrity chef' status. Mind you, this was before the Food Network and 'named' chefs were just starting to gain mass appeal. Chef Soltner said he really didn't consider himself a chef as much as a 'cook.' He said he was a 'craftsman' just like the carpenter and the other craftsmen he knew in France. When you think about that statement today it really rings tru. I think there are a lot of 'chefs' who aren't 'cooks.' In other words, today we have a group of 'chefs' who look good wearing trendy glasses and spiked hairdos. But can they 'cook?' Just last week I was watching a new program on PBS that interviews famous American cooks in the kitchens of the French Culinary Institute in New York. There was 'Cook' Soltner-the same affable, relaxed man that I had met many years before. He told of growing up in France and how his family and their love of food and cooking fueled his own passions for the kitchen. Then he stood up and prepared an omelette for the students in the audience. Butter, eggs, salt and a bit of pepper. He stirred the eggs with a fork and then poured them into the hot butter melting in a copper skillet. He stirred the egg with a fork a few times and then gently nudged the omelette onto a plate. An unadorned white plate. When the hostess of the program asked him if you could add vegetables to the omelette he just said "yeah sure, if you would like." Of course the omelette was perfectly cooked-creamy scrambled eggs on the inside and the outer wrapping of egg set but not over-cooked. Watching Chef Soltner again reminded me how humble yet confident he was. A man who truly loves his 'craft.' Here is his autograph of my cookbook:

Lord have mercy - David, that is just stupenous. I am not generally prone to sweets, but your fruit concoctions have me over the moon (says I, who is just finishing off the last of the amazing cherry clafouti, which shall henceforth be known in these parts as David Ross Clafouti). ← Ahhhh. Thank you so much. My first named after dish! If I ever open a bistro we'll call it "Clafoutis ala Ross." I love desserts-and desserts with berries are my favorite. Let's see, how many can, or should, I list? Cherry Clafouti Huckleberry Pie Coconut Cream Pie Apple Pie French Apple Pie Cherry Pie Apple Crisp Pear Brown Betty Peach Cobbler Peach Ice Cream Strawberry Ice Cream Cherry Ice Cream Lemon Bars Raspberry Napolean Boysenberry Kiss (oops, that's a cocktail, but equally good for dessert) I'll stop with that.

OK, computer problems being fixed. THe lavish feast of duck confit I planned tonight will have to wait for tommorrow since I've spent most of the day hacking at this stupid machine. But I've got a couple of surprises to share tonight after dinner. Since we've been talking about berries-but mainly huckleberries-I thought I would share another story about Northwest berries with you. This is a piece I wrote about 5 years ago when I was just getting my fingers wet at the keyboard. It may read a little rough, so forgive me. At the end of the piece are links to some recipes using the different berries. Let me know if you have some questions about the berries. I said at the start of the blog that summer wasn't necessarily my favorite season for cooking. Now after day five of the blog and so much discussion about summmer berries, I think I've changed my mind. The Cane Berries of Summer by David Ross Summer is the best time of year for a cook—the time of year when the bounty of Mother Earth is literally at our fingertips each day. A new surprise turns up almost every week in my local farmer's market. In June, we are blessed with buckets of ruby-red Bing cherries. July delivers crates of "Blue Lake" green beans. In August, we start husking ears of sweet corn and September brings voluptuously juicy peaches. And in late September, the season is crowned with the exalted and elusive wild huckleberry. One of the stars of any summer table is the many varieties of "cane" berries that grow throughout the season. Most of us don't even realize what a cane berry is. We see pretty little hillocks of berries standing at attention in the produce section of the supermarket and don't consider the history of these beautiful fruits of summer. All cane berries are part of the rose family of plants. Like roses, cane berries have long stems (canes), which are studded with prickly thorns. The fruits of cane berries have the same sweet fragrance of rose petals. Some people consider any type of cane berry to be a noxious weed that grows out of control along the sides of a road. This falsehood could be due in part to the fact that many cane berry bushes border the murky waters of sloughs - it's not too appetizing to think of a berry basking in the sun next to a sewer pit. However, cane berries are not snobbish neighbors. Other than finding a place to soak up the hottest rays of sun and a cool drink of water, they can adapt and flourish in almost any surroundings. Cane berries also seem to take a bad rap because they are so damn hard to pick. I remember picking wild blackberries in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains just east of Mollala, Oregon. We would trudge through a mucky cow pasture to reach a huge outcropping of blackberries. Of course, the best berries were laughing at us from their sun-soaked perch at the top of the bush, nearly 10 feet above our heads. We were totally unprepared for the torture that awaited, outfitted in t-shirts and shorts, our bare skin exposed to the sharp thorns on the canes. Hours and untold scrapes and pricks later, we had our bounty: a handful of blackberries. But dreaming of the warm, juicy pie that would grace our dinner table that evening made the trauma of the hunt seem unimportant. In Oregon, each local berry farmer pays an "assessment" or fee, based on the acres of each crop he grows. The money collected from the farmer is paid to the Oregon State Department of Agriculture. As one of his duties at the Department of Agriculture, my father was the administrator of the "Oregon Cane Berry Commission" for many years. In Oregon, "Commodity Commissions" run the gamut from animals (beef, fryer and sheep commissions), to fruit and vegetables (strawberry and onion commissions), to hay and grasses (wheat, alfalfa and ryegrass commissions). Through these "Commissions" the state promotes and markets Oregon products around the world. One of the most popular varieties of cane berries is the "raspberry." Raspberries have been known since prehistoric times. The ancients attributed the origins of raspberries to divine intervention from the Gods--the nymph Ida scratched her breast while picking a delicate raspberry for young Zeus and thus raspberries, until that time white, turned red. The blood of love, so to speak. Raspberries have been cultivated since the Middle Ages, yet commercial farming methods were not perfected until the start of the 20th century. The "Loganberry" was created in 1881, when James Logan of Santa Cruz, California, inadvertently crossed a red raspberry and a blackberry. Loganberries possess the red color of the raspberry, albeit a more ruby red, and are somewhat larger and more elongated in size than the blackberry. Loganberries have an especially tart yet sweet flavor that is best suited to baked desserts like pies and tarts. Rudolph Boysen of Napa, California developed the boysenberry—a hybrid of the blackberry, in the early 1920's. Mr. Boysen collaborated with Walter Knott and together they produced boysenberries on the Knott farm in Buena Park, California. As a means of helping get through the Depression, the Knott's began selling boysenberry jams and jellies from their farmstand. In later years, the farm became the amusement park we know today as "Knott's Berry Farm." The Marion blackberry, or "marionberry" is a cross between the Chehalem and Olallieberry and grows exclusively in Marion County which lies within the rich farmlands of the Willamette Valley in Western Oregon. Although Walt Whitman tasted berries that would develop into the marionberry, it was not until 1956 that the first commercially grown marionberries were to the American table. The aromatic marionberry has an intense blackberry flavor and is nearly double the size of the blackberry. Whereas other blackberry varieties are sold simply as "blackberries," the Marionberry is only sold under the Marionberry name. This is "branded" marketing--selling a high-quality product under its given name. Another example would be "Certified Angus Beef." Today, foreign berries can be found in supermarkets year-round, and at sky-high prices in January. Nevertheless, it's always best to avoid spending your money on interlopers from halfway across the globe and wait until summer when local cane berries are in season and at the peak of flavor. So the next time you are winding down a country road this summer and happen upon what appears to be a gangly weed, you may want to stop. It just might be a bushel of sweet, juicy berries-and the best way to taste the flavor of the season is to pick the tender, little morsels straight off the cane and savor the moment. Enjoy. http://www.themediadrome.com/content/recip..._palm_fruit.htm http://www.themediadrome.com/content/recip...r_ice_cream.htm http://www.themediadrome.com/content/recip..._lemon_bars.htm http://www.themediadrome.com/content/recip...rry_cobbler.htm

What a day to have computer problems! I've been fighting with this bugger for almost two years and the darn thing is only four! Bear with me for the next few days as I struggle with this beast. The responses may be a bit slow. Or, if I get really mad, I'll open the window, shout "I'm mad as hell I'm not going to take it anymore," and chuck this piece of >>>>>out the window. Not to worry if I go that far, the blog shall continue onward!

I think that fresh cranberries would be delicious in this coffeecake. I would probably boil them in water and sugar first until the 'popped' meaning they burst open. That way when you baked the coffeecake the cranberries would be soft and not hard like a raw cranberry. The flavor would be much different than a huckleberry, but very tart and wonderful I am sure. Spokane today is getting close to 350,000 people in the metro area-depending on who you ask. To the east are Post Falls and Couer d'Alene, Idaho which are towns in their own right, but could be considered a part of the Spokane metro area. We'd love to invite you down to Spokane any time and maybe a trip into the forest to pick some berries.

Since the huckleberry discussion has been so popular, I thought I'd end it with some huckleberry cooking today. I keep a gallon bag of huckleberries in the freezer and use them throughout the year, hopefully ending up with a few berries left in July, just in time for the new crop to ripen. This morning I made a huckleberry coffee cake with the last few cups of berries that I have left. Not to worry though, I'll be buying this year's crop of huckleberries in about 6 or 7 weeks. Here is a photo of what our wild huckleberries look like. They are red, black and purple in color and are about 1/2 the size of a blueberry. Here you see the coffee cake batter spread in a baking dish with the huckleberries scattered on the top. I don't like to stir the huckleberries into the batter because it can turn the batter a pretty unappetizing purple color. I also like the flavor boost you get when you eat a piece of coffee cake with a cluster of huckleberries on top. I sprinkled some sliced almonds on top for texture, and then I put a crumb topping on top of the coffee cake. The crumb topping was a mix of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and butter. Here is a slice of the final huckleberry coffeecake with some grilled apricots.

I'm guessing something near the airport? ← Yes, it was the Salty's on Redondo Beach just about a 20 minute drive South of the airport. Great view, so-so food and service.

It was the Salty's at Redondo Beach. While the view of the water and islands of Puget Sound is beautiful (you know that), sadly the food was not good and the service worse. 25 minutes to get our lunch after ordering. Yesterday I took another employee to lunch for her birthday and we ate at Anthony's Seafood in the airport. The 'Halibut Fish and Chips' at Anthony's was far better than the lunch the day before at Salty's. Yes everyone, the Seattle Airport has a good restaurant! Anthony's is a local restaurant company and if you have time while transitting through Sea-Tac airport, (short for Seattle-Tacoma), stop in. They have lots of Northwest seafood selections.