PickledCherub

The giant grumpster that I've been, I decided this morning to go to the coast. I woke up, got stuff together, made myself a meatloaf sandwich with mustard, and took Sedna on a long drive. I'd never been to Astoria, and the voices in my head said "Go North." I saw this bridge there, which crosses the Columbia to Washington, and went to the visitors' area to pee and to let Sedna pee and poo. Then, I went north again, found a state park with a beach and parked where I wouldn't have to pay. Sedna and I went exploring, and found this little alcove, right on the river, with sheer cliffs on either side, and four people, one older couple reading, and one younger couple with a Jack Russell and a bottle of Monarch Rum. Sedna played with the dog, Trixie, and we went into the warm water, swimming and playing ball, running up and sliding down the cliffs. It was perfect, and I eventually relaxed. The drive home was slow, but I talked to mom for a while (she was dog-sitting for my sister Ruth and her husband). I also stopped at a fruit stand and bought three boxes of blackberries, blueberries, a box of yellow cherry tomatoes, two white nectarine, a cucumber, and a head of garlic. I also drank a Doubleshot and ate a Baby Ruth.

Chris called on the last leg of the trip, the part right after it turns from beautiful nature into Portland. We talked about commitment and daydreams, credit and mortgages. I decided that I had to to something with the berries, so Sedna and I went for a walk to buy unsalted butter and sour cream to make the foolproof tart shell from Splendid Table. I came home and made the pastry I doubled the recipe (why not?). To jazz things up a bit I made a brandy, lavender, and thyme syrup and poured it over the berries before baking the tart. I mixed the remainder of the brandy syrup with the remaining sour cream, to make a nice topping for the tart. Oh, yeah, I don't have a rolling pin, and that makes things real fun, pastry-wise.

With the leftover pastry I thought, let's make a quiche. I've never made a quiche before, although I've seen Amanda make a million delicious ones. I found another recipe, for Carrot Quiche, and made that. It's still in the oven, and it smells really nice.

I cut the yellow cherry tomatoes in half and mixed them with a bunch of basil I picked off of my little basil bush, and poured a tablespoon of the garlic oil I have from the meatloaf. That was a nice refreshing snack.

Now the kitchen is all clean, and it smells super yummy in here, and I have a tart, and a quiche-to-be, and I'm going to the airport to pick Lindsay up in an hour. I feel so much better. Oh! And, I'm having a late lunch with Amac and her boyf at the Bonfire tomorrow. Life is good. Finally.