SV Cascadia

View from the corner of Market & Front Streets Neither of us had been to Toronto, but Wayne's work sent him there for a week in August. I went along to see the city, and of course, eat. The drive from the airport into the city took us past many walkers, runners, cyclists, and rollerbladers making use of trails and parks along the waterfront. Bicycles are treated as a part of the flow of traffic downtown and share the roads with cars. Bike share stations are plentiful, and cyclists are everywhere. Yay bikes! As certified Seattle Coffee Snobs, we expect disappointing coffee when we travel. Our first morning at the hotel brought a pleasant surprise: excellent coffee at Bluestone Lane  without leaving the building. There is no comfort like surprisingly good coffee in a strange place (and in a chain coffee shop no less). Random building interior with cute clouds Wandering around during the lunch hour, I saw hundreds of office workers sitting around fountains and in

Best race swag ever! OOPS! I wrote this post 243 days ago and just discovered my failure to post it. With Thanksgiving a few weeks away, it is seasonally appropriate again. I'm feeling iffy about my assertion that Pi Day is the year's best holiday. Thanksgiving will always be the ruler of all holidays in my book because it is so intensely food focused. So, what pie is your favorite? This year our self-proclaimed coconut-hating hostess has requested Dahlia Bakery coconut cream pie, and I want chocolate bourbon pecan. I'll make at least one other, possibly this one or something similar. And of course there will be an absurd quantity of fresh whipped cream. 3/14/19:  Inspired by an early morning text from Wayne wishing me a Happy Pi Day, I sprang  rolled out of bed early, donned my Pi Day shirt and ran all of my errands by midday. I needed time to make my first pie on the boat in celebration of the year's best holiday, which had arrived while I had my back turne

Wayne's contempt for typical waste handling methods on boats knows no bounds. We are not squirmish types. Living on a boat requires a greater intimacy with one's humanity and the humanity of those with whom life is shared. There is no escaping any of the bodily functions of those who live on the boat. That said, the components of black water systems are next-level disgusting. Waste hoses, and even waste holding tanks, invariably become gas-permeable, i.e. gases inside the hoses are able to pass through the hose. It could take years or months, but the gas eventually comes through. Hoses also get a build-up inside them, like plaque in an artery. When the waste system clogs (and it will  clog), the hoses generally require disconnection, splattering plaque and black water inside spaces that typically receive little ventilation. The waste tank needs to be emptied and that can be all kinds of adventure depending on the available pump-out facilities. Have you ever seen a pump-o

The Bake-Along Inspired by all of the cookbooks she discovered at the annual PNBA fall tradeshow, a bookselling colleague recently started an online bake-along. Book links in this post will take you to the bookstore where she works (SV Cascadia receives no compensation from these links. I just like to spread the indie bookstore love). We bake something from each category (pies, cakes, pastries, breads, etc), one recipe at a time, and share notes and photos in a private Facebook group. One member selects a category, then nominates someone else to choose a recipe. Skill levels and available kitchen space/equipment vary from former professionals to armchair bakers who can't get enough of the Great British Bake-Off. The first book selected was a new, updated edition of The Joy of Cooking  (11/12/19, Scribner, $40). I know that many people hold this book as sacred, but I have never liked it.  However, I could not pass up the opportunity to bake along with fellow cookbook nerds. I l