Morels!

Ah, Spring! We have had so many treats since moving to Port Angeles (and there are so many blog posts I must do to share them with you). The Farmer's Market is small, but always abuzz with excitement and joy. When I recently traveled to Miami for Eli's graduation, I returned on a Friday night. Going to the market the next morning was when I truly felt I had come home: I saw friends and friendly farmers, I heard fiddle music before I got out of my car, I touched and gathered the food from our immediate community. I came back to the boat bursting with contentment.

Last week, I bought lovely peonies and hollyhocks--the peonies are still on our dining table. On Wednesday (yes, we have the market twice a week during the summer--we are spoiled indeed) every booth, it seemed, had more gorgeous strawberries than the next, some so tiny the fairies must have been dancing around them the night before.

And yesterday the highlight was morels, those highly prized mushrooms of spring. I had never cooked with them, but reading up I found I should make a simple reduction sauce for steak for our first experience. I sauteed them with onions in butter, added a bit of my fruitcake liqueur and a jar of homemade stock, and simmered the whole until greatly reduced. I swirled in gobs of good butter at the end, added a bit of salt, and served it with grilled flank steak. Honestly, I think we would have been happy with just that, but we added some simply cooked baby broccoli with butter and a green salad with mizuna, radishes and chrysanthemum (leaves and flowers)--all from the market, of course.

It's almost embarrassing to recount these meals, as they seem so indulgent. But there you go, that's the privilege we have here: local food that great urban chefs go to great lengths to source for their customers. We ARE spoiled and we know it!