Mellow yellow

Ooba Tooba Mexican Cafe

Yesterday I had a nice lunch in Woodinville with my good friend Myrtle, and we sat at this outdoor table talking for a pleasant hour.  The air was so hazy, soft and balmy we could have been in California! 

 Seattle summer smog

Seattle really could pass for Los Angeles today.  Over 200 wildfires are burning in Canada and the jet stream is moving smoke all across the country like a highway, including large parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, eastern Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, northeastern Colorado, and much of western and central Washington.

The smoke overcast filters out the sun, actually making it cooler here in this week. Needless to say the air quality is poor.  We should be back to more normal summer weather this weekend, with morning clouds, afternoon sun and temperatures in the 70's.

But still no rain on the horizon. We don't have mandatory water restrictions like California yet, but they are advising us to "use it wisely."  From Seattle Public Utilities:

"After the hottest June in recorded history, higher-than-usual water consumption, record-low stream flows into storage reservoirs and the onset of El Niño conditions, we have changed our water supply outlook from good to fair."

Salmon dinner

Grilling fresh fish looks easy on cooking shows and magazines, but things go wrong when you try to flip a delicate fillet on the grate.  It sticks, breaks in pieces, falls through. The secret is: don't turn it.

Years ago when I was still using charcoal briquets, I'd make alder smoked salmon on the little Hibachi, seasoned with bacon and onion.  I had a weird  "cook on foil" method that even worked for whole salmon. (Boy, those were the days.)

I do basically the same thing now on the gas grill with fillets.  No, it isn't as good, because there's just no substitute for wet alder chips smoking on top of hot coals.  But the gas grill is easy and foolproof.

Here's a wild Sockeye fillet we had the other night. It was really tasty.

I put the fish skin side down on a piece of heavy duty foil, right on top of a couple slices of raw minced bacon. I brushed the top generously with butter, then seasoned it with a bit of salt, dill and lemon juice.

Remember to make slits in the foil under and around the fish, so the fat and juices drip on the flames and make some "smoke." Otherwise the fish just steams away in a puddle.  Cook it with the lid down-- it won't take long.

The skin of the fillet usually sticks to the foil when you lift it off, which is nice.  There's always a few crispy, fishy-tasting bits of crispy bacon for the hard working cook to snitch off the bottom.

Cool water sprites

 

No rain for 36 days and still counting...

Fried in Seattle

July 6th is National Fried Chicken Day.  Yes, we all know fried foods aren't good for us, but who doesn't like an old-fashioned chicken dinner, served up with fresh corn, biscuits and potatoes?

We're getting fried and smoked in Seattle.  June was the hottest month on record, and so far every day in July has been over 90 degrees. Another hot one coming up today.  Independence Day (92 degrees) was the hottest here in 124 years of keeping records.  It's pretty murky out, too.  We're being hit with a large plume of smoke from wildfires burning in British Columbia.  The haze is making for some spectacular sunrises, along with our bleary eyes.  Sleepless in Seattle. 

The standing joke used to be that summer doesn't start here until after the Fourth of July.  Ha! Not this year. On the bright side, the dahlias are ready to bloom and I ate the first cherry tomato yesterday.  It feels more like late August than early July.

Summer Sun
By Robert Louis Stevenson

Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven with repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy's inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the World, he goes.

Happy 4th of July

 Vintage fireworks stand?

On this day in 1776, the U.S. broke from the rule of England when the Declaration of Independence was formally adopted.  It was approved and signed by the Second Continental Congress on July 2. John Adams always felt that the Second of July was America's true birthday. In protest, he refused to attend Fourth of July celebrations for the rest of his life.  

Indeed.

Washington state is still in the middle of a historic heat wave, but it looks like much of the country has worse severe weather for the holiday.

Yes, without air-conditioning the afternoons and evenings are hot, but our house is on the crest of a hill so there's usually a warmish breeze blowing through, helped along by fans.  And I love having wide open windows and doors in the summer. At least we don't have to worry about a plague of flying insects (yet.)

But we have a nice plague of Anna's  Hummingbirds attacking each other and fighting over the red crocosima! A wonderful plant that doesn't ask for much, except to be left alone most of the year. Needless to say, it's blooming early this summer.

The early mornings are indescribably still and beautiful. It's been eerily quiet this week.  Maybe people are actually heeding the warnings about setting off fireworks in the city limits, or maybe they're just saving them for tonight. 

Tinder dry

In the past two months Seattle has only had 8 days with measurable rain, and measly amounts at that.  It's going to hit 90 again today, and even hotter away from Puget Sound.

Our "lawn" looks like this:

Oh well. At least it doesn't need to be mowed! More like vacuumed. I'm keeping the flower beds and pots going with daily hose watering (quite a chore) but it's obvious I need to rethink city gardening if this weather is the new normal.

When the bamboo is gone, it will be even hotter and drier in the yard.  I look at the incredibly lush flower photos from past years, and realize that couldn't have happened without abundant rain.

 2009

These white lilies are just a shadow of their former selves.
Oh, the things we once took for granted...

Fireworks, anyone?

Everyone is concerned about fire danger over the 4th of July weekend, and rightly so. Fireworks are still sold outside Seattle limits, primarily on Indian reservations like the Muckleshoot in Auburn. It is a big seasonal business.   We don't begrudge the First People trying to make an honest buck, but really?

At Muckleshoot Reservation, the Yahoos like to buy their fireworks and then run out in this field behind the stalls to set them off.  Nice, huh?  But at least it keeps all the merrymakers in one spot.

Unfortunately, some people resist immediate gratification and bring their fireworks back to Seattle. I'm starting to hear them at night.  The plain, big, ugly bang ones are always the most popular. Go figure. The ones that sound like guns to the people who can't tell the difference between fireworks and firearms. 

In past years we've gone to Twisp for the 4th of July, but this time we'll stay home and keep an eye on things.  The holiday falls on Saturday which is nice, because John has tomorrow off. We might go out for a steak dinner. Or maybe have a barbecue.