Logan is "Benny" in RENT!

Last week, a friend of mine sent a link to an article in the NY Times (see below). The two things I loved most about the article were summed up in two phrases:

“Ask for what you want. Then stick around.”

“The idea is to take pleasure in life, and be willing to be pleased.”

The other pithy quote to cling to when things get tough ~ "it takes 20 years to be an overnight success."

This afternoon, I watched Logan in RENT. He played "Benny." I sat in a row of criers. It was wonderful. It was moving and sad and deeply transcendent.

For Logan, everything is coming up roses. From RENT, he goes on to the lead in "Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson" in Portland. He did, in fact, "ask for want he wanted" and, most importantly, he "stuck around." He never gave up. He worked. He studied. He practiced. And, he has prevailed. 20 years? Yup, just about that.

The truth about us in the Behrens-Benedict clan? We really have taken pleasure in life and best of all ~ "we are willing to be pleased."

And, for all of that, I am deeply grateful.

Day 63 Everyday Grateful ~

Logan in "Rent" and friends in the audience

Heaven!

Mini Urban Edens - In the Garden - NYTimes.com

www.loganbenedict.com

Mmmmm . . . I'm Sensing a Pattern!

As you may have noticed, I'm crazy for wild salmon; so much so, that a year ago, I became a wild salmon smoking fool. Yet, no matter how much wild salmon I smoke, there doesn't seem to be any in the freezer or the refrigerator.

Where does it all go? It's a mystery.

Let's review. Eleven days ago, I smoked five fish, vacuum packed them and put them in the freezer to be taken out the night before for breakfast in the morning. At last check, nary a one is left. What the hell? At this rate, I may need to install a "salmon cam" to catch to culprit.

Upon reflection, it seems everyone around here is also a fool for smoked wild salmon. Kim brought in freezer packs to allow her to send some smoked salmon to her family in the Southwest. On Monday, Morgana left me a note that she had put a fresh wild salmon in the refrigerator and "if you are smoking salmon this week, could you include this one as well?"

So, I've become the boutique wild salmon smoker to my friends and colleagues. Who knew? It happened little by little while I was not paying attention. Over the last year, when someone came for dinner, I tucked some smoked wild salmon into a small bag as they went out the door. Now, they are all converts to the deliciousness and freshness of smoked wild salmon. 

Right now, we are smack dab in the middle of fresh wild salmon season. It's just as easy to smoke five fish as it is to smoke one. And, so, this afternoon, two of these lovely fish are going into the smoker. By this evening, oh yum, we will have more at the ready.

I'm so glad I can produce this lovely luxury for my friends and family.

Next up? My Kiss and Hug Pickles. Oh, yes!

So, remember . . . never, ever eat farmed salmon. It's filthy and really bad for the environment. And, if you buy smoked wild salmon, check the ingredients. You should be able to recognize them all. That means no nitrates or other preservatives.

Day 63 Everyday Grateful ~

Logan is in "Rent" at the 5th Avenue in Seattle

It opens tomorrow!

If we care about the future, we must protect wild salmon. To learn more and to find links to groups working to protect this important species, go to:

http://www.greatwildsalmonrun.org/

How Does Your Garden Grow . . .

The pots on my back deck are just wonderful. Nothing like a little steer manure, water and some sun to make everything shine!

Remember my April 22 post when we were all working on the back deck and redoing the pots from scratch? Well ~ here they are now!

Summer in Seattle is a transcendent thing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 63 Everyday Grateful ~

Going out to sit on the deck with a glass of wine.

Ah! Summer.

Never Send a Vegetarian to Buy Meat!

So, this weekend, Ramses (my darling dog) was sicker than a damn dog. Scary sick. Of course, this was also the weekend that we all decided to use my "venue" to celebrate our friend Mike's b'day. So, I ferried between my barfing dog and my guests. (Oh, brother! Now, there's a mental picture . . .)

What I learned this weekend? Truer words were never spoken ~ never send a vegetarian to buy meat.

So, we decided to make use of the wonderful weather and do a combination BBQ / picnic.

My next door neighbor, Chuck, thought BBQ'd spare ribs would be great. (OK. OK. My first thought was ~ eeesh but, hey, it wasn't my birthday.) I headed to the store and stood in front of the meat case. Gawd, I had no idea. By the process of elimination, I decided on country style (have no idea what that is) spare ribs. Of course, I also bought wild salmon for me and anyone else who might want to nosh on it.

When I got home, I went to epicurious.com for recipes for spare rib recipes. Oh, dear! The majority of them called for preparation to start the night before. Mmmmm, that's not going to work. I need the fast method. One called for boiling them. That didn't sound so appetizing. Another called for cooking them at a very low heat for several hours and then finishing them up on the BBQ. Bingo! That's for me.

So, here was the menu: BBQ's Country-spare ribs, Smoked wild salmon, red potato salad (used the brine from my pickles for the sauce ~ oh! Yum), Caesar salad, smoked salmon mousse, mixed olive tapenade, sourdough bread, red wine, Prosecco with brownies for dessert.

Here were the successes and more about the misses:

The red potato salad. Utterly delish! Used the brine from my pickles and added diced green onions, chopped McSweet's onions, a little mayonnaise, Plochman's mustard, capers, my pickles rough chopped, garlic, red pepper flakes, Frank's Red Hot, kalamata olives, fresh parsley from my little kitchen garden ~ and other things that don't come to mind right now.

The wild salmon mousse. This was really nice and the first time I've made it. My feeling about most salmon mousse is that it's a whole lot of cream cheese and not really much salmon. Well, I had some of my smoked salmon that I wasn't happy with the texture so I put it into the Cuisinart and chopped it up. It was actually very nice and crumbly, then I added a little cream cheese ~ enough to hold it together but not drown it. Then I started adding things that sounded good. Green onions, garlic, some pica de gallo spice, red pepper flakes, a couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce, some nice creamed horseradish, fresh parsley and then started tasting and re-adding until I liked the final outcome. Excellent! 'Course, it made a bunch, so a small container went home with each person as they went out the door.

The spare ribs. Mmmmmm ~ not my finest hour. I believed the suggestion of slow cooking it in the oven for two to three hours and then putting it on the BBQ. I decided to put it in the smoker since it's a very low heat. When the time was nearly up, I added a rack at the top for my salmon. Well, I thought the spare ribs looked dry and over-done. I didn't even think sauce would save them. Yes, everyone ate them but maybe they were starving and/or just being polite. The worst of the smoker drama was my salmon. It was overcooked! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat! Jeeze. What was a surprise though was that it was delicious over the weekend once it had rested in the refrigerator. It's a mystery.

The Caesar salad was very nice. Audrey brought fresh lettuce from her garden on Bainbridge Island.

The pictures are of the aftermath. We got so focused on eating we forgot to take the pretty pictures for the blog. Bad Heidi!

Day 62 Everyday Grateful ~

Cool this morning.

Sunny predicted by this afternoon. 

All is right with the world!

Gives "Sicker Than a Damn Dog" a Whole New Meaning!

Ramses was sick this weekend.

I mean really sick.

I mean, "Oh, God! Please don't die" sick.

I have no idea what he got into. If I didn't know better, it was almost like poison. Certainly, it was something he ate. But, since he doesn't have access to anything not given to him by my own hand, it's a mystery.

It started on Friday night / Saturday morning in the middle of the night. I've heard horror stories from friends about their dog having to go out several times during the night. That's not Ramses. He's all about going to bed when I do and getting up when I do unless I get up early in which case, he opens one eye, groans, rolls on his back and goes back to sleep. I guess he's hoping it's just a bad dream and I'll be back in bed soon.

By mid-morning on Saturday, he was throwing up ~ a lot! Every time he ate anything he pitched it right back up. He was keeping nothing down. Oh, uck! He was unsteady on his feet. He had no energy. His clown spirit was broken. The worst part was he kept looking at me like, "I feel like hell. Do something."

By Saturday night, he was keeping water down. But, he looked like hell. His hair was all askew; a rumpled mess. A nauseous, disheveled mess. It was hideous.

On Sunday, I was in tears with worry. And, then it hit me. Chicken soup!

I made fresh chicken rice soup for Ramses on Sunday morning. I gave it to him in one cup servings. By Monday night, he was on the mend. He was still a little unsteady on his feet yesterday, but this morning, he semi-bounded up the stairs.

His clown spirit is back. His eyes are sparkly. And, his grin in working order and back where it belongs.

A girl and her dog! All is right with the world!

Chicken soup! Miracle cure, par excellence. Three thousand years of mothers can't be wrong.

Day 61 Everyday Grateful ~

Cool this morning.

Ramses is better.

All is right with the world!

Smoked Wild Salmon & Nectarine Salad

OK. OK. this is short 'cuz it got late.

All the wild smoked salmon is out of the smoker. The sections have been vacuum packed. The sealed packages cooled and now in the freezer.

My next door neighbor, Chuck, called to see if we all were having dinner and what could he bring? I told him I thought Smoked Salmon Caesar salad would be good.

"Yes," sez I. "Come for dinner. Please bring a head of romaine and a baguette. I have a bottle of wine."

"I'll bring that and a bottle of wine as well. See you at 7:00."

It was such a lovely evening, I decided to set the table on the back deck. Because I never know who is going to be home and who will be eating, I put the stack of plates, silver and napkins at the end of the counter so, if someone came in, it would be clear they were welcome to join us all for dinner.

Chuck arrived with the baguette, a bottle of nice red wine and . . . whoa! Iceberg lettuce? Mmmmmm.

OK. OK. Difficult to make a Caesar without romaine. How about a smoked salmon and fresh ripe nectarine salad? Maybe a fresh tomato. And, the snipped green ends of scallions. Maybe a little coarse mustard balsamic/olive oil vinaigrette with a few drops of sesame oil. Could be good.

Oh gosh! It was good. It wasn't the prettiest salad I've ever seen. Even though the lettuce was perfectly fresh and crisp, it looked pale and bruised. Go figure. But, it was delicious. The perfect light meal for a warm summer evening.

Karen stopped by for a glass of wine. Kim came for dinner and brought a small berry pie from Whole Foods. Morgana came late and I whipped up more salad. Karen slipped out to buy some French vanilla ice cream for the little pie we were all sharing.

Lots of visiting, chatting and laughing.

And, planning for Chuck's friend Mike's birthday party.

BBQ! On Friday! At Heidi's. F*U*N!

Menu plans are in the works.

Day 60 Everyday Grateful ~

Cool this morning.

Supposed to be sunny this afternoon.

The air is still. Heaven!

A lovely Seattle summer!

Wild Salmon ~ Smoked to Perfection!

Oh, yum!

Anticipation . . .

The lid is lifted!

Yes!

The first layer is ready!

I'm thinkin' dinner . . .

Wild Smoked Salmon Caesar salad, baguette, red wine.

Dinner on the deck! No mosquitoes (please don't move here!)

Is this a great country or what?

Eat Fresh! Eat What is in Season! Wild Salmon!

Such a great adage. Eat seasonally. Eat fresh. Works for me!

And, for me? It's fresh wild salmon! O. M. G. Talk about food of the gods!

On Friday, Morgana bought a lovely Copper River fillet and asked me to smoke it. Well, it's just as easy to smoke one fillet as several. So, on Saturday, I bought 8 pounds of fresh wild sockeye to add to the mix. They have been marinating their little hearts out for the last thirty-six hours. 

This morning, I cleared off the kitchen counter, put down a layer of kraft paper, got out the smoker grates, took the fully marinated wild salmon out of the refrigerator and arranged them on their respective grates.

They are now relaxing on the counter under the fan while the pellicle is being formed.

     

This afternoon? Into the smoker.

I predict smoked wild salmon Caesar salad for dinner. Maybe in the back deck.

I'll keep you posted.

Day 59 Everyday Grateful ~

Sunny and completely beautiful.

Blue skies, clean air. Still.

Salmon in the smoker. Heaven!

Summer is here!

The Romance of a Lilac Hedge . . .

Holy Cow! What a gorgeous week in Seattle (please don't move here!). While the rest of the country has been sweltering and dealing with power outages, we've had one of the nicest weeks this year. Warm? Yes. Sunny? Yes, that too.

One of the things I learned from my dermatologist when I rushed to her office this week is that because of climate change, poison oak, poison ivy and their noxious pals are moving north. Some time last week, I came in contact with one of these and had blisters the size of grapes on my feet (that's what I get for not wearing shoes). Anyway, it was hideous and itchy.

Don't worry. I won't post a picture. I have standards . . . however low.

In the interim, I've gotten behind on my posts.

Now, about my lilac hedge.

I love the romance of planting fragrant plants, naming my house and generally creating an atmospheric space in which to live. It's all part of creating a flourishing life. As we all know, a luxuriant lilac hedge is a de rigueur for any fairy tale. It is also true, a luxuriant lilac hedge requires a lovely fence. Lovely fences are expensive. Several years ago, I found wonderful salvage lattice cedar fence sections at Second Use. These fence sections are very cool. The lattice openings are square; not the standard diagonal slats. Square openings make for a very handsome fence.

     

There has always been lilac in the front garden. But, since we live in Seattle, sun is a continuing problem. The front fence gets the most sun. So, I've really been encouraging lilacs to grow here. The problem with a hedge along the front of my property is that as it grows and fills out, it can make backing out of the driveway tricky. 

Since my garden is for the most part planted by God, I am darn near an informational novice when it comes to the care and feeding of particular plants. So, I lean heavily on Wives Tales! The classic Wives Tale about lilac is you must prune it no later than the 4th of July. If you prune it later than that, you won't have flowers next year.

Anyway, what with not being able to wear shoes and hobbling around for the last ten days, the 4th of July came and went. I was out working in my yard yesterday when it hit me. The. 4th. of. July! Oh, jeez! Lilacs! Well, the 7th of July is close to the 4th. Isn't it?

I flew into action; a veritable gardening dervish! I pruned the lilac hedge, mowed the lawn in the front and the back (I could have benefited from hiring Rent-a-Ruminant for the back yard), blew off the driveway, back deck and courtyard. Then, I took all the recycle to the eco-center, stopped by the store for fresh wild salmon, cut it up and set it marinating to go into the smoker tomorrow, fixed a lovely toothsome dinner, drank a little Prosecco with a dash of Creme de Cassis, ate on the back deck (no mosquitoes ~ please don't move here) and, when the day was all over, slept the sleep of virtuous.

Gawd, it makes me tired just to read it! But, it's nice to have a really productive day. All caused by a missed deadline!

Maybe next year the lilacs will be back. Hope springs eternal!

Day 58 Everyday Grateful ~

Sunny and completely beautiful.

A reminder of climate change!

Seattle will soon be like Los Angeles in the '50's

~ blue skies, clean air.

Summer may be here! I must water my pots!

 

Peggy's Sunglasses

As I've mentioned before, I took the boys to Italy at Christmas after my husband died the summer before. And, as I've confessed, we were the stupidest visitors maybe in the history of Italian tourism. We knew nothing. We literally stumbled upon nearly everything. I'd say Innocents Abroad, but that gives us way too much credit.

Anyway, our first stop after landing in Milan was Venice ~ La Serenissima. Heaven!

The good thing about Venice, of which there are so many, is you can't get lost. Sure, you can wander aimlessly but unless you swim off, you will eventually get where you are going. Kindah nice.

During one of our wanderings, we stumbled upon the Guggenheim museum. So wonderful ~ even now it makes me breathless. 

As we fell over the threshold of the Guggenheim, we fell into a quirky, eccentric, amazing space filled with art by the titans of the 20th Century. The Guggenheim was featuring a Picasso studio retrospective in the first gallery. One of the very nice things about traveling with the boys was spending all day and night with them. More things to find out about your children. The Bear loves Picasso. We lingered in the gallery as we studied the pieces in detail.

After nearly closing the place down, we exited through the gift shop. Such totally fun and quirky things. Then ~ whoa! Sunglasses. Utterly cool ~ even, terrifyingly amazing. Batwing sunglasses. I'd say "retro" but well, they weren't retro when Peggy wore them. Well one thing lead to another and I bought a pair.

That's one of the great things about being older. Everyone quits giving you the eyebrow as you fully embrace the idiosyncratic, the personal. Singular describes it perfectly. I subscribe fully to being sui generis because (to quote the great Bill ~ Shakespeare, that is) I bear a charmed life.

It's grand!

Day 57 Everyday Grateful ~

Sunny and completely beautiful.

With global warming,

Seattle will soon be like Los Angeles in the '50's

 ~ blue skies, clean air. 

The forecast calls for six days of summer.

Amazing.

 http://www.guggenheimstore.org/pegusu.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168640/Canaletto-drawing-Venice-sold-family-idea-true-value--2million.html