Watch your honey sticks, can't keep away

Last Sunday Lapacek's Orchard had their first batches of apples ready for sale. My ladyfriend and I were sure to make an appearance.

The drive there was lovely. As we drove down a county road lined with farms and full of gentle hills we passed a field with a sedge of sandhill cranes nibbling away. They've gotta build up their strength for the journey south soon. Arriving at the orchard we found many cars already parked out front. As usual, the first treat in store was cats. This grey one greeted us but was not keen on posing for photos and preferred to do some grooming instead.

We wandered out back to see the goats. And they were happy to see us. So happy, in fact, that they licked our palms and those of other visitors mercilessly. The kids were cute as the dickens.

Would you like to live appliciously?

The chickens were all relaxing in the shade provided by the tall grass and thusly were hard to find.

Eventually we wandered back towards the store and ran into moar cats. This orange boy was more amenable to pets.

This tuxedoed feline was all feisty. "Back off, hooman..."

It being opening day for apples, there weren't many varieties available. Nonetheless I consulted the big board.

My ladyfriend knows Kim Lapacek who was behind the counter as she always is when we visit. They hugged and chatted for a bit as I wandered the store. Apples for me. Check. Apples for my friend's daughter. Check. Apple cider doughnuts for her. Check. I nearly bought an apple cookbook. Nearly. Instead I opted for the bounty of recipes on the internet and figured I'd check a cookbook out from the library before committing to purchasing one.

It's hard for me not to want to cook up a million dishes all with apples when I wander Lapacek's. A pie or a crisp would do my friends some good but I also want to learn to include them in more savory dishes.

I love the Up North soap from Suds & Harvest for its wonderful piney scent. It smells so nice that I probably wouldn't notice if the soap had no cleaning properties. I took many whiffs of a bar of it before finding the strength to put it down. Normally I'd buy one (or more) but my lady has kept me stocked with soap so I have 2 bars, including one made by Yoopers, waiting for the one in my shower to be depleted. And the soap I'm using now is one of those mega-bars from Duke Cannon which apparently makes me manly and virile. It is huge. So big, in fact, that it's stretching my soap scrubber pouch to its limit. In my defense, I got it on clearance at Target. Yes, it's the requisite pine scent.

My basket was getting full so it was probably a good thing that there was no fresh cider available. However, there was still room for a few honey sticks.

Last season my ladyfriend and I seemed to go to Lapacek's every week. Every other, at most, and I had apples coming out of my ears. Time to start putting apples into everything I cook. Next up: apple cheddar scones. That's the plan, anyway.

The tastes of Tibet and August

Earlier this week I was looking for restaurants to take the daughter of a friend out for dinner. She's a student at UW and I wanted to buy her a good meal before the semester starts and she's eating almost exclusively on the go fare. Plus, I wanted to give her the apples and apple cider doughnuts I bought for her at Lapacek's Orchard on opening day. I found Tibet Kitchen and thought it'd fit the bill with several vegetarian options and an uncommon cuisine. Well, not that uncommon, it turns out.

My ladyfriend did a search and found that there are, in fact, 4 restaurants in town serving Tibetan food. Not bad for a city of only around 300,000 people.

We began with the vegan momos that had these lamprey mouth-like openings on top. They were scrumptious, laden with cabbage. A tasty sauce burst out with the first bite. The dipping sauce had some nice heat.

The co-ed got one of the stir fries but I cannot recall which. She vacuumed it up in short order. I forgot just how much 20 year-olds eat.

My ladyfriend enjoyed a big bowl of mokthuk, Tibetan dumpling soup. She allowed me a sample and I can testify that it was delicious.

I went a bit overboard, I must admit. First, I got a big plate of cucumber salad which was crisp and cool with a hint of spice. Sorry cucumber fans, no photo. Next was a big ol' plate of sauteed baby bok choy. They did not pull any punches when it came to the garlic.

Finally, I got a big bowl of thenthuk, a noodle soup with plenty of flat noodles.

Also not shown was a swirl of tingmo, Tibetan bread. I know nothing about it but I can tell you that it had a nice grainy taste and proved to be the quicker picker upper as it absorbed the garlic sauce from the bok choy with ease.

Every bite was delicious and portions were generous. The co-ed went home with a full belly.

A return visit is in order.

With a surfeit of apples - Scarlets, I've been thinking about what to do with them. The first thing that came to mind was to cook them with pork. And so I paired the pork chops in my refrigerator with a Scarlet stuffing.

I threw them in the oven smothered in kraut.

I also made corn on the cob with the ears I bought at Lapacek's over the weekend.

My photo:

My ladyfriend's (better) photo:

While the corn wasn't mega-sweet, it was still delicious. And the chops turned out well. More apples next time. Still, a nice meal to welcome in the bounty of the early harvest.

A final(?) trek to the orchard for the season

Over the weekend a friend and I made our third? fourth? trek out to Lapacek's Orchard of the season. It was pumpkin picking time and a coffee cart was there to warm the pickers.

The goats were enjoying breakfast. 

And one of the cats was out soliciting pets.

I bought some Winesaps. What really lured me in was that, when aged, they take on a flavor like marzipan. 

I am not sure what I'll make with them but apple beer cheese soup is definitely in the running.

My friend knows Kim Lapacek and she revealed her latest project: to document baking a different bundt cake every week for a year. The project is to be called Looking For the Bundt Hole.

On the way home my friend and I decided to break our fasts at the Jet Room. I think what sealed the deal was my revelation that I'd never been there.

The novelty is that it's at the airport, the bit where the private planes of the well-heeled land and take off far from the lines of the hoi polloi who wait in line to take their belts off and be scanned. We only saw this lone jet. 

We witnessed a gentleman clad in suit and tie get out of an SUV and enter the plane but I don't recall it taking off. Perhaps this was because I was too busy with my food and the wonderful conversation.