Summer Seattle trip

I'm a little late to the party with this one, but the recipe at the bottom has something of a Seattle connection, so better late than never. Our big excursion for this trip was to Leavenworth a couple of hours from Seattle. On the way, we stopped for a hike at Bridal Veil Falls, which was beautiful:

 

After the hike, we made our way to Leavenworth, which is a Bavarian village in the Cascades, for dinner (South, which was great). It was a little smoky that day from wildfires, but there was still an amazing view of the mountains from the main drag.

 

We also had some very tasty ice cream in Leavenworth at Whistlepunk, which is a killer name for an ice cream shop (and a band).

 

And speaking of ice cream, Dylan, Moriah, and Brad introduced us to one of the best ice cream shops in Seattle, Frankie & Jo's, which is all vegan (!) and just a mile down the road from their house in University Village. Brad and I were particularly enamored of the California Cabin flavor, which the Frankie & Jo's website describes as a "whimsical smoked vanilla & pine ice cream with bold, delicious black pepper cardamom shortbread cookie throughout." It sounds bizarre (and more than a little pretentious), but it is to die for.

I love this penguin sculpture at U Village!

 

Happily, right around the corner from Frankie & Jo's is Hey Bagel, which has good bagels but outstanding bialys (thanks for the heads-up, Moriah!). I liked the bialys so much I walked down to U Village three days in a row to get some warm fresh ones—it's a tough choice between the pizza flavor and caramelized onion and gruyere.

 

Another day we went to the Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP). We started our tour with the science fiction room, which was by far the highlight of our visit. My two favorite displays were the T-800 from the first "Terminator" movie (this was before we discovered that Skynet is really coming for us):

 

 

and the actual Darth Vader costume:

We also saw (but I didn't get a picture of) Mister Pointy, which was the stake Buffy inherited from fellow vampire slayer Kendra. And Cassie did a fantastic job posing with the ax Jack Nicholson wielded in "The Shining" (you can also see a critter from the "Alien" movies at the bottom of the picture):

On the way back from MOPOP to the bus stop, Cassie snapped this photo of the Ferrer boys doing Abbey Road for sun hoody wearers (the Beatles we are not):

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During our spring break trip to Seattle, we made the New England Baked Beans out of Dylan and Moriah's copy of Cool Beans by Joe Yonan. That's a wonderful dish, but it takes about 10 hours from start to finish, so I was excited to see a recipe for baked beans in America's Test Kitchen's The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook ($6 at the book sale) that comes in at less than 3 hours. Mom thought the Joe Yonan version is ever so slightly better, but I think the new one stands up very well. With the much quicker timing, it'll definitely be this version of baked beans that I make most often from here on out. 

 

We found some Rancho Gordo cranberry beans at the Greenwood Market, which are worth it if you can find (or order) them.

 

Baked Beans #2

Adapted from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook (2015) by America’s Test Kitchen

Time: ~2:50 (very little active)

1 pound (454 grams) best-quality dried cranberry or navy beans
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon neutral oil (olive oil would be fine too)
1 medium onion
4½ cups (1062 grams) water
80 grams (¼ cup) molasses
35 grams (2 tablespoons) soy sauce or tamari
25 grams (2 tablespoons) brown sugar
15 grams (1 tablespoon) Dijon mustard + 5 grams (1 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
10 grams (2 teaspoons) apple cider vinegar

    1. Place a rack in the center of your oven; heat to 350 degrees.
    2. Check the beans for debris, then rinse thoroughly. Transfer to a Dutch oven with 3 quarts of water and the baking soda; stir. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cook for 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium-high or as needed to maintain a vigorous simmer. Drain and rinse the beans and the pot. Dry the pot, carefully if it’s still hot.
    3. While the beans are boiling, peel the onion and chop it finely. In a medium bowl, combine the 4½ cups water, molasses, soy sauce or tamari, brown sugar, 1 tablespoon Dijon, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.
    4. Heat the oil in the dry, now-empty Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes.
    5. Scrape and stir in the bowlful of ingredients from step 3. Bring to a boil. Cover the pot and bake until the beans are nearly tender, about 90 minutes.
    6. Uncover the pot and bake until the beans are completely tender, about 30 minutes more.
    7. Stir in the vinegar and remaining 1 teaspoon of mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve promptly, preferably with a garden salad and over roasted potatoes. Serves 4 to 6.