Good morning, my dear friends,
It’s 5:30 AM and at this time of year still dark. I hear no pattering raindrops dancing on the roof so I think, I hope, the Skagit valley might experience a period of drying out. Right now the fields are soaked as I mentioned earlier and is becoming a threat to the strawberry crop.
Yesterday began in the little village of Edison, Washington and ended in the state of Georgia, in the first instance actual; in the second, imagined, both a delight in their own special ways. I arrived at Jeff and Margo’s house in LaConner at 8:30 AM as prearranged and piled into their car for the drive to our breakfast destination. I say “pile” but that’s not quite accurate since with two young children (Azalea, 3 years and Aurora, 4 weeks) it was more like “strapping and securing”, the two sophisticated infant seats required these days, taking a few deliberate minutes to cradle the kids into. On the way out of town, Margo fortunately reminded us that the restaurant did not take credit cards, so we back-tracked to my bank’s ATM to pick up some cash since this was my treat. And what a treat ot was. “Tweets” is one of the newer restaurants in Edison and probably one of the most unusual. First of all, it’s opened only 3 days a week to catch the weekend traffic I guess. Secondly, the interior decor borders on rustic-funky with a few slab tables for community dining and a two smaller tables along one narrow wall and, on top of it, an extraordinarily small kitchen for all the gigantic plates of exquisite food and baked goods they produce. Since the restaurant is only open from 9 AM to 2 PM on those 3 days, they can concentrate on what they offer but I also understand the chef varies the menu from week to week. In any event, I was impressed and will want to return.
I’m still trying the catch the attractiveness of the place besides the food which is paramount, of course. The chef himself is affable and well-trained in both French and Mexican cooking, and judging from what he produces, is unconventional in wonderfully creative ways. His staff, mostly young women, are pleasant and quick to help you enjoy the experience. And, as a counter to the rusticity, the ceiling is adorned with an exquisite natural mobile of branches with small, delicate life-like birds attached and for the kids, a basket of wooden building blocks many of which date back to the 1930’s. I’m inexperienced in writing about food but I can tell you when my breakfast plate was set before me it filled me with a totally unexpected astonishment. The center ingredient, the poblanos Rellenos (sp), was a baked egg dish, square in shape and high, with a brown crust resting on a bed of seasoned black beans and surrounded with shredded raw purple cabbage and thinly sliced golden beets with fresh bean sprouts on top, crowned with a small, sweet-pickled tomato. Margo and Jeff had other, equally impressive, breakfast dishes. I really like the sense of generosity expressed by the size of the serving. It was ample, not stingy. Interestingly, I said to myself at the beginning that I couldn’t possibly eat it all only to find I ate every last crumb and still did not feel full or that I had overeaten.
The “Georgia” part of the day occurred when Kornelia and I drove down to Marysville. Washington to Maxie’s Chinese Restaurant to join in the evening-s Karaoke music. It was only after we’d gotten there that we learned that on Saturday nights, the Karaoke began at 9 PM instead of 8 PM. Had we known we would have picked another night. Once there, though, we decided to stick it out. Having eaten before we left home, I settled for a Mac and Jack and Kornelia for a vodka Martini and we settled in to get acquainted with the Karaoke crowd that was slowly gathering. Our friends, Jerry and Tilly, introduced us around and understanding our plight (I’d been up too many hours already) they put us near the front of the list of performers. This where “Georgia” comes in. It was Willy Nelson’s version that I sang in due course. Hs slow-paced rendition was to my liking and I felt that I’d practiced it enough to receive the favorable response I got. But, on the other hand, they applaud every performer as way to encourage and bolster each other and why not? The duet Kornelia and I sang together, “With You I’m Born Again” started out okay but that particular rendition was not the one we’d rehearsed so ran into some trouble near the end. But still, okay, and we’re determined to keep at it until we have that song down pat while learning one or two other duets. Maxi’s Restaurant has Karaoke 4 nights a week so that can certainly be one of our venues where we can get the practice we want.
