Celebration part II

The funniest thing about Matt's celebration was the couple sitting next to us. They were mid-forties, looked pretty upper middle class and they were sitting at their table each reading their own book. They read until their food came, put down their books, ate--though didn't really talk--then picked the books back up when they were waiting for their check. I really wanted to sneak a picture of them, but couldn't figure out a way to do so. We were sitting very close to them.

I finally got a look at what they were reading. She: The Coming Economic Collapse. He: A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson's hilarious trek on the Appalachian trail.

Celebration

Hey, I got a job! (The schedule's a little weird, but it's cool). So, we went out to celebrate.
Mm-mm. Patricia's food looks good.
Mm-mm! So does mine!

Local Dinner

Sara and Shawn, over at Pike Schemes, have been cooking a local meal once per week. Their weekly reports have inspired me to stop at the farmer's market on the way home from work. Today, I was able to make a meal from ingredients I bought there. Granted, it is missing a bread serving and something from the dairy group, but it was tasty nonetheless. I do love greens and fresh salmon "caught yesterday" almost makes up for not having tomatoes ripen until mid-September.

Pea Pie

I returned from my trip to an abundance of peas. I love peas, especially eaten right out of the shell. But I also love pea pie, a recipe I came across in the Oregonian in 2003. Doesn't it look delicious?
An upper view of my fancy crust. Though it looks pretty, I used a recipe that causes the pie crust to collapse if you think about brushing against it. It didn't stay like this for long.
Intrigued? Want to make pea pie yourself? Now you can!

From The Oregonian Foodday section, 22 April 2003.

Pea Pie.
Makes 6 servings.

3 cups freshly shelled green peas (3 lbs in the pod)
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
3 tablespoons grated yellow onion
2 teaspoons finely chopped mint
1/4 c. grade Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Blanch the peas in salted, boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain well and place in the pie shell. Add the onion, mint and cheese. Beat the eggs, egg yolks, salt, pepper, and cream together, and pour over the vegetables. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the eggs are set.

My notes:

• Assuming you don't mind making a pie shell, this is a very easy recipe. While your water is heating up to blanch the peas, you can be cutting the fat and the flour together.
• I think that I have not had success "grating" the onion and have resorted to finely chopping.
• Be sure and use cream, and not some other, lesser version of milk product.

Last post for Matt's party

Hey this is the final post for Matt's party.
I didn't ask for any presents, so Burt and Laurie got me Zombie Fluxx on extended loan. They're awesome!
Here's Ramon, Nicole, and I playing Zombie Fluxx.
Hippies are the best defense against Zombies. Seriously.
Notice the nametag.
OK, so, this picture looks weird because it's up against a stained window. But this is me with Mel and Greg's kid. I wanted to name him Peter Parker, but that idea got nixed. And here's Patricia cleaning up.

Mark & Amanda's Wedding.

We were lucky enough to attend Mark and Amanda's Wedding. It was on a warm day in lovely Mt. Tabor Park. It was a magical wedding which we both enjoyed a lot.

The Groom enters with his parents. The bride enters with hers.
The "minister" who was not really a minister, but a long time friend of Amanda. The ceremony really reflected Mark and Amanda's values. Example: they promised to live sustainably and their rings were made by a local artisan and brought by the ring bearer in a bowl holding dirt from their backyard.
They were married in the caldera of Mt. Tabor. You wouldn't think that an extinct volcano would make a nice place to get married, but it was a beautiful setting. After we pronounced them married (that was fun) they exited to one of their friends playing "Just Like Heaven" by the Cure. It was a great exit song and will forever be associated in my mind with this wedding.

First walk as a married couple. Not really, they got legally married a few weeks before and I'm sure they have walked since then, but they considered this their real ceremony.
The reception was held just on the other side of the caldera. It was a vegetarian potluck, which I was nervous about, but everyone brought their "A" game and the food was delicious.
Joel poses.
Joel and Amanda look stunning.
Michael and Hafidha. (Hafidha is using the wheelchair during her pregnancy).
One of the really fun things at the wedding was that people could use one of three typewriters to write a message to the couple. Many people had great fun clacking away.
A closer look at Amanda's dress.
And Mark's tux.
The cake.
Matt poses.
Getting ready to cut the cake.
And cutting.
There were sparklers.
Mark and Amanda live near Mt. Tabor Park and walked home after the ceremony. They attached their "just married" signs to their backs and pulled along the tin cans behind them.
A very super fun thing at the wedding was the photo booth.
It was so fun we used it twice.
It was truly a magical wedding and we wish Mark and Amanda the best.

Matt's Party - the Awards Ceremony

Guess what else I found at SCRAP? Trophies! Medals! ... that had already had the names of other people inscribed on them...
Aren't they cute?
Nicole.
OK, one of the trophies wasn't exactly attached to the base and it needed a nut to keep it together. Furthermore, it was a baseball trophy with a bat missing. So, I told Ramon it was a Jedi trophy with the lightsaber not yet activated. (Ramon and I like Star Wars.)
As I went around, I made up superlatives, and I forgot them. This is CJ.
JoJo.
Jan. Someone had kept the figure part of the trophy and put it on a spool of thread and written "Who Who Who". It must have been an inside joke.
Michael.
Hafidha.
Here I ran out of trophies and started handing out medals. Some were from Hood to Coast. I bought them for a dime each. Julia and Elizabeth.
Bahar. If you look closely, you can see Burt scowling as he realizes that the contest for Best Knitting was rigged.
Sabrina. Some of the medals say 5th place and some say 1st. Patricia said she'd be mad if she did Hood to Coast and just got a stinking medal.

Patricia got the award for Most Focus on the Other Person in a photo of herself.
I gave myself the award for Most Genres and Most Work of Other People Utilized.