Cosmic pie

 

The Cosmic Crisp apple landed in Seattle in December 2019, along with lots of marketing hoopla. They were about $4 a pound then, and never caught on as the growers hoped. Cosmic Crisp store well in the fridge, but for an eating apple, the skin is tough compared to Honey Crisp.

How times have changed. QFC (Kroger) had Cosmic Crisp this week for 99 cents a pound, probably trying to move last season's surplus. They are good for pie, especially at that price, and cook down sweet and juicy after a long bake.

This one was in the oven for almost two hours. 

 

Yes I know, another yucky corned beef picture (if you don't like it.) 

But John said this was my best ever-- although if you've done something 50 times you should be good at it. After years of boiling, now I braise the meat (after rinsing off the salty brine) with onions and white wine, then add the vegetables later, so nothing gets too mushy. 

Top o' the morning to you

 

The best thing about St. Patrick's Day is the excuse to make corned beef, cabbage and potatoes once a year, even though this classic meal is more American than Irish. Yum, cured meat. 

 

 

 

 

Big yellow bus

 

 

John spotted a Methow Valley School District bus on his neighborhood walk yesterday, just a few blocks from our house. How could you miss it! 

He struck up a conversation with the driver, who was staying with a friend here while waiting out the two day flight delay from Washington DC. Back in the Valley, he drives the Carlton route, so this would be Maya's bus. What a wild coincidence, not to mention, a small world.

Anyway, Nova finally got home in the wee hours of the morning. I don't know what time exactly, but the flight got to Seattle at 8 pm, followed by a long, dark drive over the mountains. Cheers to the bus driver, getting a load of tired and cranky kids home safely. 

The snow is long gone. Now we're about to be drenched by a warm atmospheric river, the same vacation spoiler that just brought heavy rain to Hawaii. It looks like the sun returns about Friday, just in time for the first day of spring. 

 

None the worse

 

The spring flowers are none the worse for the blanket of snow yesterday. In fact, that kind of wet snow is so beneficial. It never got below freezing at ground level. 

However, no one predicted it would snow prettily all day, which it did, causing havoc at the airport, where a couple of snowflakes is enough to stop everything dead in its tracks. We're not prepared for that stuff here.

In other weekend news, Nova's group was scheduled to fly back to Seattle last night. They had a series of departure delays, and eventually the flight was cancelled due to a brief ground stop at the DC airports, just long enough to mess everything up royally. 

Long story short, they were re-booked on the same Delta flight in two days, Sunday night.

What an adventure. On the bight side, they aren't sleeping on the airport floor--they got rooms at the Arlington Hilton, where Nova says the food is "much better" than the tour hotel. Hopefully, travel insurance pays for some of this. Teenagers eat.

Still, everyone is pretty homesick and of course many of them have colds. Hats off to the saintly teachers keeping the kids occupied for another two days. 

The major mountain passes were closed for almost 24 hours, so a blessing in disguise they didn't get back late last night. 

  

 

 

 

 

One more snow picture

 

 

The battle of the seasons...

Irish music (and snow)

 

 

Of all the crazy songs the ukulele group plays (our leader is partial to classic rock!) that little instrument was made for Irish and Hawaiian music. 

I like the meeting right before St. Patrick's Day. Those traditional, corny Irish songs are pretty much about three things: love (as in chasing girls) drinking (whisky) and untimely death. 

That's Cecil at The Bridge yesterday. He just turned 102, and can still whip out a harmonica in the right key to harmonize on just about anything. We are always happy when he shows up, especially now that his granddaughter drives him across town. 

Anyway, it was a good time despite the cold wind blowing through the patio. I sit along the side and avoid the table tops with those gas burners. The fumes make me dizzy. 

The big news this morning is SNOW in Seattle, a strange event for March, and in fact the first lowland snow all winter. 

A soggy, wet and cold garden...

 

Have a good weekend.