Pharm Cooking: The joys of Washington eateries
By LOU GREENHAW
Contributing writer
I have had one roll of my pictures from our trip to Washington state developed. One of the best pictures that was almost postcard perfect was taken with the least amount of care.
We had just browsed around the shops in Gig Harbor and drove completely around the harbor to look for a place to turn around.
I said, "That would make a nice picture."
Steve stopped the car, and I jumped out and snapped the picture over the top of the car and hopped back in. We only delayed traffic briefly.
The pictures I took care with didn't turn out as well. The picture shows the boats in the harbor and looming in the background is Mr. Rainier. I also got some great shots of Mt. Baker. It was a week when one or both mountains were visible every day. For those of you who know Washington, you know that is unusual.
We visited cousins and ate fresh raspberries on cheesecake. We visited friends and ate fresh raspberry shortcake. It was the season, and both had picked them from backyards.
Eating is one of our favorite things to do when traveling. We laughed that having been on the round only six hours, we had already gone to our favorite candy manufacturer, Brown and Haley; our favorite seafood restaurant, Johnny's at the Dock; and stopped by the seasoning plant for Johnny's to stock up.
Then there was the Norwegian bakery in Poulsbo that had pastries beyond imagination. We ate seafood heartily the night before hiking on Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Wilderness as if we might get lost and need the sustenance to keep us!
All in all, it was a successful eating trip. Our next eating adventure is back to Italy in the fall. We will start trying to get in shape now so we will be ready to shovel that pasta into our mouths. I'm going to start using more weights to build up my arms.
The local eating frenzy is the county fair. I hit the fair suppers and eat at the fair one night. Three nights without cooking is a blue ribbon winner for most wives especially in the heat.
I made an apricot pie over the weekend that was blue ribbon quality, I'm sure. I was surprised that most of my cookbooks failed to include recipes for apricot pie. The one I used was a simple one. I'm sure to get a blue ribbon if I let my husband judge. However, the way he devoured it, I'm sure he failed to appreciate the wonderful texture of the crust, the perfect degree of tart and sweet, and the wonderful color of the fruit. That's why he won't be judging the pies at the fair.
Apricot Pie
Pastry for a double crust 9-inch pan.
4-5 cups apricots, pitted, halved if small, quartered if large
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
Line a pie pan with one crust. Place half the apricots, cut side up, in crust. Sprinkle half the sugar over the fruit. Top with remaining apricots. Mix tapioca and remaining sugar and sprinkle over top. Sprinkle with lemon juice and dot with butter. Place top crust, crimp and vent. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 30-40 minutes until top is browned and a knife inserted in center indicates the fruit is soft. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream.
