Post-Midterm rain, playing croquet waterside, baking Epi's, and look what we found at the market!l

So we just passed the point of our first midterms ... not that we can really slack off now or anything like that. I immediately had a second physics exam a week after midterms and organic chemistry is only getting tougher. Nevertheless, the beat goes on ...

While the east coast braces for a huge storm, up here in the northwest we've officially entered our rainy season. As evidenced by my nifty weather radar gadget to the right of this page (--->), rain rain rain. Welcome to Washington! haha. It is quite beautiful, though, studying and listening to the drizzle ...

Remember that vintage croquet set we bought in Hoodsport? Finally got a chance to play .... SO fun on a slanted hill down by the water

Ian successfully whacked his ball into mine, so he got a "roquet" shot and whacked my ball clear down the hill ....

Yes, that means he won :-p

So last time I made my fougasse, I saved part of the dough to continue to allow it to ferment. After refreshing it (giving the yeast new flour and some more water so they keep working), my ferment has been developing a really nice sour flavor to add to the bread.

This time, I tried to make epi (a variation of a baguette where the bread looks like a stalk of wheat)

Like I always say, what I love about living in Washington is the availability of locally sourced, fresh produce and dairy products. We have a milk box by the front door for fresh milk/butter/cheese deliveries from a local farm, and if we don't order from them, freshly bottled (yes, bottled in a glass bottle) local milk is available at the market. One of Ian's classmates in the nursing program lives up in Port Angeles and has 50-something chickens, so every friday for just $3, we get a dozen free-range, healthy, veggie-fed chicken eggs in a variety of colors! Nothing shows the quality of these eggs more than the intensely yellow yolk:

Andouille sausage omelette for breakfast ... and yes, I'm a sucker for industrial tater tots .. haha. Cut me some slack :-p

At our local central market co-op we also found .... yes, an entire BRANCH of brussels sprouts!!! For just $3!

Since it's getting colder I also was in the mood to make some indian food so Aloo Gobi (in the crockpot) and curried lentils in the cast iron pot:

 Cauliflower, potatoes, onion, cumin, turmeric, garlic, and a touch of ginger

 All in the crockpot ... usually I don't cook with a crockpot, but it's the perfect vessel for making this dish since it slowly cooks and keeps everything nice and moist. The cauliflower softens up and soaks up all the spices, and the potatoes are perfect after about 4 or 5 hours

Aloo gobi (left) and my daal (curried lentils) on the right. For the daal, I combined olives, tomatoes, garlic, and mushrooms, added some garam masala, and then blended it all up with my immersion blender. Then, I folded in some yogurt to give a nice creamy texture before adding the lentils I cooked earlier into the pot. Delicious! 

And of course, I continue to be amazed at the availability of fresh asian groceries even on this side of the water ... at Central Market this past weekend I found some fresh "cherng fun" (Cantonese: "long noodles") that were freshly made in Seattle. Ian whipped up lunch today with some sesame oil, soy sauce, and seared the noodles nicely ... I was very impressed! Tastes just like how mom used to make it :)

And the weekend goodness continues .... tonight, Ian is preparing "ritzy ling cod" .... fresh bought ling cod, pan fried with a ritz cracker crust. Mmmmm

[ UPDATE 10:30pm ] : And here it is!