Yep, Summer is leaving us

I'm getting that anxious feeling that one has when your realize summer is coming to a close and you haven't done half he things you fantasized about during cold, grey, depressing February.

Things I did not accomplish this season:

• never threw the fabulous cocktail party
• vegetable garden didn't thrive beyond early June
• I planted no flowers
• only went to the beach once
• didn't install rain barrels
• didn't make jam or pickles or "put up" anything
• didn't paint the kitchen cabinets
• haven't eliminated any ivy since the great "Battle of the Invasive Plants" in January
• and on and on and on...

But today wasn't so bad. I got up fairly early, did some cleaning while listening to NPR. I then scrounged up all the semi-wrinkled, not-the-peak-of-freshness fruits I had on hand (blueberries, strawberries and apricots- all local) and made a delicious, moist coffee cake. I enjoyed a slice with a pot of French-press Stumptown coffee.

My current favorite coffee is "Los Planos" from El Salvador. The card included with the bag of beans contains the location of the grower (latitude and longitude & elevation); the varietal (Pacamara) and describes the flavor as: "Heavy bodied with notes of pear compote and fresh sqeezed orange juice in the flavor profile and an aroma of maple & sweet herbs." Makes you want a cup now, doesn't it?

As if this weren't enough, on the other side of the card is a detailed story of the grower:

In 1996, Sergio Ticas Reyers began cultivating Pacamara on Los Planos which he inherited from his grandfather. He provides land for his workers for food crops and donated land to the Chatalatenango community for construction of a water tank. Sergio Ticas also maintains a natural lagoon, spring and shade trees for local fauna. This coffee is washed processed in his wet mill with spring water and dried on patios.

If this coffee was a man I'd marry it. Only if it was grown down the street could this be more politically, socially and environmentally correct. Some of you non-Oregonians may now understand why I am so dismissive of Starbucks. I'm not a snob (OK, maybe I kinda am); I'm just lucky enough to have access to such amazing food.

Today was a cool & windy just reeking of autumn so I decided to get some yard work done. For dinner I made a pizza with the dough I had made yesterday. I topped it with basil pesto I made with ingredients from the Montavilla Farmer's Market and used hazelnuts instead of pine nuts. I added no cheese in case I make some food for 'A.' I added thinly sliced Brandywine and German Striped heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. It baked up perfectly with lots of bubbles in the crust, nicely charred on the bottom but with enough tenderness. It looked so good that I started in on it seconds after I pulled it from the oven and neglected to take a picture. Too bad- it was quite the beauty.
So as I sit on my comfortable deck at the house that I call my own, eating yet another satisfying meal made from impeccable local ingredients, admiring the Maxfield Parrish sky, and fondly recalling the all the visitors that made their way to Alder Street this season, I'm thinking that maybe this summer wasn't such a bust after all.