Granola recipe

Beauty!

The summer seems to be passing without me having time or inclination to post an update here. I've got no explanation for that, but toss up a quick recipe post for future reference and as a waving, not drowning placeholder. Or I would if Google wasn't behaving crazy. 

(Okay, it's a week or so later and Google thinks I should be allowed to add a photo or two so I'm returning to this. I'll just add that making the granola was incredibly easy and straightforward and it turned out to be quite delicious too.)

Here's the recipe:

 Homemade Granola
(Click the link for the page with the original recipe; I've modified it slightly.)

1½ cups quick cooking rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill / whole grain)
slightly less than ¼ c. canola oil
slightly less than ¼ c. total maple syrup including 1 T honey
¼ t. cinnamon
¼ t. salt
½ c. combined chopped almonds & sunflower seeds
½ c. combined raisins and dried cranberries 

Preheat oven to 300°. 

 In a medium-size bowl, whisk together oil, syrup/honey, cinnamon, and salt. Add oats and chopped nuts/sunflowers and stir to blend well. 

Spread onto lipped cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and pat flattish. 

Bake for 10 minutes then remove from oven, flip oats, stir, and reflatten. Return to oven and bake an additional ten minutes or until toasty brown. 

Remove tray from oven and stir in dried fruits. Pat flat again and leave tray on rack to cool. Store in tightly sealed jar for up to one month at room temperature. 

Fresh from the oven

 

 

Asparagus Risotto recipe

 Asparagus Risotto recipe; don't skip the browned butter!

Bookstore "Day" Episode VII, NORTH to Edmonds & Beyond!

 [Find episodes 1 - 6 here, here, here, here, here, and here.]

Before I admitted that I just wasn't going to get to all the stores this year--and that was okay--I'd sold Scott on the idea of taking Amtrak to Edmonds. It wasn't a hard sell; Scott is always up for a train ride. He did draw the line at adding the complication of bringing our bikes so, alas, Bessie and her companion stayed in the garage for the day and we just caught a C to take us downtown to catch the 8:30 Amtrak.

The "Edmonds only" car

We met a nice young woman from Brooklyn who was heading all the way to Vancouver, BC, even though she was riding in the Edmonds car. We broke it to her that she wouldn't actually be traveling through any national parks on the train while assuring her that the view would be quite nice anyway. I also suggested she check out Vij's in Vancouver because that's what I tell absolutely everyone.

The trip north was pretty quick and uneventful so before long we found ourselves in Edmonds, where we had some difficulty figuring out how to exit the train station grounds. It was early, ok, and we hadn't had time to stop for coffee at Zeitgeist. It was so early, in fact, that our quarry wasn't in the open yet so we started sensibly enough by finding a coffee shop--two, actually. Scott felt that Cafe Louvre had a Starbucksesque appearance--and I'd been more taken with another shop's online description--so we continued on to Walnut Street which offered great coffee and treats in a somewhat brighter atmosphere. How do I know it was brighter? Because we still had time to kill after finishing our coffees there so we went to Cafe Louvre too. Great mini-eclairs at Cafe Louvre, but the coffee was definitely better at Walnut Street.

We approached Edmonds Bookshop at 10:00 a.m. to find quite a crowd at their front door. I was surprised by such enthusiasm for books on a Thursday morning, but it turned out to be a class field trip and we were beckoned in ahead of the twenty-odd small children. The word for Edmonds Bookshop is . . . well, I was going to say "charming," but actually it should be "heart-warming." The bookseller was friendly in a genuine sort of way and to hear the owner address the crowd of kids, all settled down on the floor, practically brought tears to my eyes. It gives you hope, you know--small independent business, selling books, oddly enthralled children--it was all pretty fine. Their book selection was pretty darned good too, though I confess that I find the practice of separating "classics" from the rest of fiction to be a little odd. (Several bookshops are doing this these days so I guess it's a thing. I just wish they'd put a "check out our 'classics' section if you're not finding what you seek here" sign in the general fiction area. For context, know that Watership Down is considered a "classic" in some bookshops.)  Edmonds Bookshop also appreciated Cascadia Field Guide, which will always be one of my favorite book projects so I was charmed by this as well:

As I was checking out I told the bookseller that I'd worked on Cascadia and she mentioned they'd had another Mountaineers author in to do a reading lately-- "Zimmerman?" I am embarrassed to admit it took me a couple of minutes to place the name for of course she meant Graham Zimmerman whose A Fine Line I'd also project managed! I can only say that I've taken to retirement like a duck to water.

My Edmonds purchase because Shuggie Bain was excellent

By this time our ferry was about due so we started scurrying towards the waterfront, but then I remembered I wanted a shot outside the bookshop, even if we didn't have the bikes, so we hurried back up the few blocks we'd just covered for that photo.

I make a poor substitute for Bessie

But "ferry?" you ask? To get to Seattle? Oh, gentle reader, did I not say "multi-modal" at some point in an earlier post? We caught the ferry (oddly, no photos) over to Kingston so we could collect a stamp from Saltwater Books, possibly another new addition to SIBD. It was, happily, a pretty short and quiet stroll from the ferry dock in Kingston. And what joy to encounter, along a side street, a woman out weeding accompanied by her pet goat!

Moses, a goat who would have liked to eat everything I was wearing

Eventually I tore myself (and my jacket and scarf) away from Moses and we made our way to Saltwater Bookshop which, I'll say, is the sort of bookstore you might expect to find in a shopping center next to a grocery store. In their defense, apparently they do more online orders so most of their stock is invisible to the in-person shopper. It was challenging to find a book here, though the bookseller seemed a very nice woman and they had some nice displays. I finally settled on a collection of classic mystery stories:

The shop opens into Borrowed Kitchen, an utterly unpretentious bakery from which we bought some excellent danish and bread that survived the trip back to West Seattle quite nicely.

Saltwater had a "photobooth" so I used that for the store photo

We had a bit of time to kill before the Bremerton fast ferry was due and, as I've noted before, one needs more than coffee and pastry on these expeditions so we found a restaurant to have lunch (excellent fish & chips, with the most surprisingly delicious cole slaw!) and then did some more exploring and experiencing of the sights:

Does Bigfoot stop by Kingston frequently that they should have such giant Adirondacks?

Looking down from the Fast Ferry dock we could see a million tiny fishes teeming in the water. So fascinated were we by the fish, and so bewildered by the boarding protocols, that we nearly missed the boat entirely. We had it pretty much to ourselves for the trip back to Seattle.

The boat goes so fast that you aren't allowed to be outside while it's traveling and you're supposed to remain seated while inside. It didn't have the freshest smell, but it was pretty speedy--less than 40 minutes dock to dock. I just wish it made more frequent crossings since I wouldn't mind spending more time in Kingston. The fast ferry very conveniently docks right next to the West Seattle Water Taxi which happened to be there when we arrived so we just walked from one boat to the next, essentially, to get home most expeditiously.

And so ends the tale of SIBD 2024. I had worked out possible routes to get to the shops in Shoreline, Kirkland, Redmond, Mercer Island, Bremerton, Bainbridge, and Poulsbo, but I was truly a bit sick of desperately seeking for something to buy at some shops, and Poulsbo, man, that was just going to be hell to get to and from without a car. Maybe we'll bike the loop around the top of Lake Washington that we mapped out when we were feeling more ambitious earlier, and certainly I want to see about the 520 bridge route and the trail that is supposed to be on the east side of the lake. But we won't be getting stamps, alas,

Ever-more hazy Bookstore Days 3 and 4

Side of a building in Burien

I think the it was the very next day (aka Tuesday) after the events described here that I gave myself a pep talk--"you're not scared of a little traffic, are you, punk?"--and set out on my own for the wilds of Burien. It's not really that far nor is it particularly hilly, but there's a good stretch of fast, busy road with no bicycle lane that makes me a little nervous. I opted to apply the general rules of Seattle ("this lane restricted to buses [and bicycles]") to Burien where the signage is just "this lane restricted to buses." I kept an ear out for approaching buses to avoid any actual confrontations and kept my speed up, of course, which made it all a little more stressy than one might like. 

Bessie, feeling a little shy after the adventure of the bus lane

But it was all fine, fine I tell you, and I reached the first of my two bookstores of the day, Page 2 Books, without incident. Page 2 falls into the category of "sweet little shop that I wish I'd get to more often." The staff is always friendly and helpful and they have a nice blend of new and used. I tend to judge a store by its "recommended" selection and I found that I agreed with a great many of the recommendations. Unfortunately, that meant I'd read those books already so it wasn't as helpful as it might have been. I ended up selecting a used copy of a recommended title that I hadn't read yet:

The staff at Page 2 expressed some excitement about my bingo card (when they must have been sick to death of the business by then) and helpfully gave me directions to the second bookshop in Burien, saying it was right next door to an enticing bakery. I then walked the few blocks to Three Trees Books (what is it with Burien and numbers in their store names?) which was indeed right next to a cookie shop with the most delightful aromas. But, books first!

Note Cascadia and Turn-Around Time in the window display

I find the term "curated" pretentious and overused, but it seriously applies--in a good way!--to Three Trees. Their stock isn't huge, but what they've got is all pretty darned good--and not all the usual obvious suspects. I can't tell you how pleased I was to see not one, but two copies of The City is More than Human on the shelves. But I've read (and own) that one already so I had to find something else and that took me a surprisingly long time. I at last went nonfiction:

 

Afterward, I stopped by Treat, the neighboring cookie shop, and picked up some cookies to take to the nice women at 2 Pages. They seemed pleased. I then opted to put Bessie on the bus for a mile or two to avoid that alarming stretch: Burien, get yourself some bike lanes! I debused in time to visit the home of the DubSea Fish Sticks--opening day is June 1!--and windowshop a few stores in White Center.

Quinceañera dresses in White Center shop

The next evening, Scott joined me for a ride to Georgetown so we could both get stamps at Fantagraphics, a shop we'd been to before, but never for bookstore day. 

Apartments available upstairs in this fine old building

It was a nice night for a ride and the route there turns out to be incredibly easy; I'd say I don't know why we always gave it a miss but that'd be a lie. It's an easy ride but it's hell and gone from every other store and we're just not that into comics. I was hoping they might have a stand-alone The Dream of a Thousand Cats, but alas. Maybe that doesn't exist or maybe they just don't carry Sandman.  I ended up replacing a book that somehow went missing when I moved a few decades back:

 

 

Sadly, we didn't stick around Georgetown after Fantagraphics; the coffee shop next door had closed for the night and while we sort of wanted a cocktail or dinner, we didn't especially want to be biking afterwards.

Georgetown does quirky

Oh, so close to the end of this series (previous entries here, here, here, here, and also here)! But the final installment involves some serious multi-moduling so it must wait at least another day.

Yet more Independent Book Store "Day" Reportage

Bessie poses at Kerry Park

It's all beginning to feel so long ago that I figure I'd best continue the tale soon or I'll have forgotten all about it and what a loss that would be to the world. After seeing Scott off to work on Monday morning, I headed out on Bessie to see about getting a stamp from Queen Anne Book Company. There were predictions of rain--and possibly even thunder showers--but it seemed pretty sunny when I set out.

As I likely said earlier, we'd left QABC out of our original route because it's on top of Queen Anne and that's some seriously intimidating elevation gain, at least by our standards (275 feet in just over half a mile). But I'm not too proud to make use of Metro so I biked to Uptown, as lower Queen Anne is seemingly called, and put Bessie on a bus to get up the counterbalance. I did manage to ride back down the hill, but I tried to zigzag a little and I admit I got off and walked a block because I really don't care for the angle in either direction.

 

Queen Anne feels very much like a locals' bookstore, and I always feel like a tourist there. Unlike previous visits on Actual Book Store Day, it was pretty quiet so I didn't get quite the same party crasher feeling as I have in the past, but I still had a nigh-on impossible time finding a book to buy. They didn't have some of the obvious options--the NYRB book I hadn't bought elsewhere or anything by Nora Ephron (whose I Feel Bad About My Neck had come up in conversation the day before). Because I had to get something, I finally decided on a book about an alternative London, because that's usually a safe trope:

I was clearly not myself as I couldn't find anything I wanted even at the bakery next door but the descent, treacherous though it was, seemed to restore me to myself and I opted to stop by Sugar for a slice of cake to go.

The stop meant that I was caught in the torrential downpour that started some fifteen minutes later, but I insist cake is never a mistake.

Still to come (maybe): Burien, Georgetown, AND adventures further north. And previous entry here

The Neverending Independent Bookstore Day Adventure, Episode IV

When last we met here (and before that here and originally here) Scott and I were waiting at Roosevelt station for a light rail to take us to Capitol Hill. Clearly, a train came along:

Portrait of a Family Outing

It was raining when we emerged from the light-rail station, and my vision likely wasn't as clear as one might like as we cycled up the half dozen blocks to reach 15th and knock off two shops that were due to close shortly--though not quite as soon as I thought. My exhausted state and poor vision led me to misread my watch, making me think it was nearly 8:00.

Bikes  posed by Nook and Cranny

Nook and Cranny Books and More has an interesting approach to shelving: books are grouped by idiosyncratic theme so you'll find shelves of "books to read in the bath" or "books if you want to feel inspired." (I don't swear these are actual categories at Nook and Cranny, but you get the idea.) Unfortunately, they did not have a shelf of "books if you are very tired of looking at books and are anxious about the store closing soon" so the categories weren't as helpful to me as they might have been. Thus I was very relieved to at last stumble across a book by Young Adult author Rebecca Stead whose When You Reach Me truly is phenomenal. Sure it's "Young Adult," but I still recommend it to everyone everywhere all at once.

Scott got to spin the wheel at Nook & Cranny but my book was too cheap so I didn't get that opportunity; I can't remember what treasure he won this time. We left the bikes where they were and scurried up to Ada's Technical Books since I still hadn't realized I'd misread my watch. It was likely that sense of urgency that led me to at last succumb to the book that I'd decided against at at least half a dozen stores by then:

It's a take-off of a Shakespeare story, how could I not like it?

Purchases completed and time pressure at last relieved, we shifted the bikes to in front of Ada's so we could get the traditional snap there before heading down the hill to the last shop of the day.

Sort of a "last homely bookshop" feel to Ada's in the gloaming

Elliott Bay Book Company is traditionally the last stop for us--and probably many other people--since its 10:00 p.m. closing time is later than most stores. As usual, there was a crowd of people handing in their completed cards. ("How, people, how?" I always wonder until I remember that most people start earlier than we do and, oh yeah, drive. But still, 28 stores--some of them requiring a ferry--in a single day? Crazy, man.) I didn't see anything I particularly wanted on any of the "recommended" shelves, but it occurred to me to wonder if they'd have a Connie Willis I hadn't read so I went into the stacks and found one I'd not heard of and carried it up to the checkout, though I wasn't wild about the cover.

 

As it turned out, you pretty much could judge this book by its cover; it was a little disappointing. Not awful, just pretty light and predictable. But sometimes I'm okay with light.

"Do all those books make my pannier look big?" Scott's bike might ask.

I want to say "And so ends the first of this year's Seattle Independent Bookstore days," but then I remember that we opted to return to the light rail to get downtown which meant shifting the bikes out of the Westlake station via the elevator which, alas, provided an all-too-vivid illustration of what happens when a city lacks adequate public restrooms. We ended the day standing in half an inch of urine, grateful for our thick-soled shoes. I soaked mine in bleach after we got home; Scott decided he'd been about ready to throw that pair of Docs out anyway. Ah, Seattle . . . 

Day One's Final Haul

Still to come: Making use of those EXTRA days

 

 

 

 

BookStoreDay 2024 Saga, Episode III

 The previous installment ended on the cliffhanger (hill-climber?) question of whether we would succeed in riding up Fremont Ave to get to Book Larder. It's a bit of joke, really; the elevation gain is just 213 feet over two-thirds of a mile. But it was still some nasty, I tell you.

If you factor in our age or the weight of the bikes or something, this might be more impressive.

Book Larder is another store that I find challenging. Maybe it was resentment over the altitude gain, but this year I was struck by the excessiveness of so many big glossy books dedicated to something as basic, really, as cooking. The thing is, I enjoy cooking most of the time and I enjoy trying new recipes, but somehow I found myself wondering if the world really needed an $80 book dedicated to the art of baking cakes using home-milled spelt flour and dusted with pink Himalayan finishing salt. (I make this book up--I think--but it's definitely inspired by some of the books and products I saw on the store's shelves.) Scott wasted little time in finding and purchasing a book of tequila cocktail recipes, but I truly struggled, thinking I'd end up with a $16 tea towel. Happily, I finally worked my way over to the essays section and found a book by MFK Fisher whose How to Cook a Wolf I had purchased on an earlier bookstore day and quite enjoyed so I snagged The Gastronomical Me and made my way to the register. 

Scott had filled his time waiting for me by considering my proposed route to the next bookstore which turned out to be a good thing; it made a lot more sense to continue north to Phinney Books than to head east to the Wise Owl the way I'd mapped. It could be that the memory of cold cuts and cheese that Phinney Books had on offer in some previous years played a role in convincing me because I realized that some of my resentment towards Book Larder's stock may have been hunger-related. 

The route to Phinney was almost all flat or even slight downhill and there's a dedicated bike lane for most of the way so I was pretty cheery when we entered the shop which is one of my favorites though, once more, our visits are usually limited to Bookstore Day. Sadly, they had no snacks on offer. It's another store where I saw several titles I wanted, but I limited myself to one off the "recommended by a bookseller" display:

Staff favorite and a Gorey cover? Sold!

The Girls was the first of this year's buys that I read and it did not disappoint; it's way better than the Simon & Schuster description in the link might lead you to believe. And I've just finished The Gastronomical Me (the Book Larder purchase); it was also pretty darned good though I found myself getting a little weary of MFK's smugness. She's a little like that Facebook friend who is always posting about exotic travels where everyone just loves her, you know? But she's also a good writer and TGM includes many excellent anecdotes and observations.

Scott's photos are always more creative than mine.

But where was I? Oh, looking longingly at the "Pizza" and "Pie" signs across the street from Phinney Books. Unfortunately the one was closed and the other was a bit swankier than we were prepared for, but then I remembered there was a Taco del Mar just a few blocks away so we took a break for some serious food because coffee and pastry aren't as life-sustaining as I like to pretend.

Mmmmm . . .  Taco del Mar

Restored by rice and beans and Mexican coke, we set off in search of the Wise Owl which required riding, I swear, almost entirely around Green Lake. I feel like it was starting to get a bit cold and windy by this point--were there hints of rain as well? Regardless, we ventured into one of Scott's most ridiculed neighborhoods, Tangletown, to park our bikes outside the shop, another new addition to SIBD.

The somewhat elusive Wise Owl Books & Music

I proceeded to search and search and search some more for a book I could buy here, finally falling back, as is my way, on a children's book. I've enjoyed other books by Sharon Creech and I'm just hoping this isn't one I've already read and own. Since it was so darned cheap ($3 used) I also bought a sticker (that turned out to cost twice what the book did) there. I might not have loved their selection, but I'd like them to stay in business, you know?

It was definitely starting to feel like twilight as we left Wise Owl, and I realized that University Book Store was going to be closing in about twenty minutes so we revised the planned route once more to race to UBS rather than crossing more directly to Third Place/Ravenna. A good thing, too; we reached UBS at about 5:55. 

The photo was taken after we'd shopped (and obviously by Scott)

University Book Store depresses me these days; they seem to have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic and don't seem to be recovering the way other businesses have so it was sort of a relief to not have much time to spend there. I didn't get beyond the displays fairly close to the registers before lighting on Claudius the God. I feel like I've read this--I know I've read I, Claudius--but I think it's just that I'm so familiar with the brilliant Masterpiece Theater series.

I've been thinking I've been using the book covers too large, but this one feels like it needs to be huge.

A happy discovery as we headed north up the Ave was that while the ride from UBS to Third Place/Ravenna felt very grueling the first year or two of Book Store Day, it was pretty much a breeze this time around. We're getting stronger, maybe, or--more likely--the world is getting flatter in some areas. Either way, despite a compulsion for drivers in the UDistrict to simply stop and park in the middle of the road, we made our way to Third Place/Ravenna without incident.

The spin-the-wheel/win-a-prize game at Third Place included a "have the bookseller tell you a joke or ask you a riddle" category, as I learned while eavesdropping as I browsed a front table display there. I heard the bookseller ask, "What flower would remind you of a certain animal that took a great deal of care about its appearance?" and then wait patiently for the customer to come up with the answer ("a dandelion"--"dandy lion," get it?). They didn't get it--maybe they were feeling as strung out as I was getting to be. My prize was a sticker (yawn), but Scott scored a car! (Okay, it's a little plastic toy, but still--his prize kung fu was pretty darned good this year.) 

But what of books? It again took me an age to find something I wanted and that has never happened at Third Place before so I was pretty taken aback. I at last landed on a book by Chimamanda Ngoze Adichie whose Half of a Yellow Sun was so damned good and so utterly devastating that it had me feeling more than a little suicidal. Maybe I'll save Americanah to read in late October/early November to further intensify that time.

Scott had the brilliant idea that we could catch the 1Line from the Roosevelt station rather than riding the busy road down to the Husky Stadium station we've used in the past so we headed west to catch the lightrail to carry us to Capitol Hill and the final three stores of the day--the tale of which will be told in the next installment.

A New Station for Bessie and her Companion!