Hadley: Fiddleheads and Cake

Fiddleheads came up three times today! For those who don't know,
fiddleheads are baby ferns, so they are only around for a few weeks
each year in Massachusetts. I saw a few when I was out on the walk
today with my parents and Barley. Then, while doing some errands at
Atkins, I saw they were selling them there. And tonight, at an
impromptu birthday gathering for Jeff, I got to try some. Jeff and
Greg had picked them earlier in the day behind Jeff's house in Hadley.

Jeff explained that fiddleheads grow in clusters of seven. When picking them, you should only pick 3-4 per cluster, so the fern doesn't die.

Jeff and Greg told me how to prepare them. First, you
remove the skin. Then they need to be boiled twice for ten minutes.
The second boil helps to remove extra tannins and toxins. After
straining them, they put them in a bowl with some butter, salt and
pepper.To me they tasted like a cross between spinach and Brussels
sprouts - I hadn't eaten them in a few years!

I like eating wild foods, and aside from mushrooms, I rarely eat them
these days. So it was exciting.

After dinner, we had a delicious birthday cake made by Jeff's
housemate Cathie. It had three layers of chocolate cake - in between
was a layer of strawberries/raspberries and a layer of vanilla mousse.
Delicious.

Just before dessert, I accidentally spilled the entire cup of gravy
over the table, and onto my foot. Luckily I was wearing flip flops, so
I went outside to the outdoor faucet and washed off my foot. It was a
new experience - I don't think I have ever washed gravy off my foot
before.

I am all packed now, and I leave my house tomorrow at 10 AM!

Amherst: Skunk Cabbage

On my last day in Amherst we went for a walk in the woods. The skunk cabbage are just coming up. I am updating my blog from my phone since I'm still in the woods.

UPDATE: Now I am back in my house. Here are some more pictures from the walk, taken with my dad's iPhone.

Here is a better picture of the skunk cabbage. It's the first real green thing in the woods in the spring, so it stands out a lot more in April than it does during the summer. I also saw some fiddleheads but no one seemed interested in eating them with me.

This is Barley waiting to go into the house. He was covered in mud because he swam in the pond. It is 90 degrees again today.

Amherst: New England Dairy

We had a very nice dinner tonight at Mi Tierra in Hadley, MA. It's not the same as being in California, but it's pretty good and authentic* Mexican. I had shrimp with chipotle sauce - others had shrimp al ajillo, steak, chile relleno and chicken mole. We also ate some great sweet plantains.

Today was an unusually hot day in Western MA - over 90 degrees at the warmest. So when we left the restaurant at 7:45, the air felt wonderful - still warm, but with a nice breeze. I rallied everyone to go to Flayvor's - we got there just in time before they closed at 8. For those who don't know it, Flayvor's is a dairy farm in Hadley - they make their own dairy products, including ice cream (and hot fudge).

I had a hot fudge sundae with malted vanilla ice cream. Sitting out at the picnic table, listening to crickets, smelling the cow and grass-scented air, and eating the sundae with my family reminded me how much I love New England.

After I finished my ice cream, I went down to visit some of the cows. I took this picture on my cell phone as the sun was setting - it came out looking like a painting.

I still haven't started packing, but that's the plan for tonight and tomorrow!

*Authenticity of food is one of the research areas I'm interested in. How do I know that the food was authentic? Who am I to judge? What criteria do I use to decide this, and what would make food *not* authentic. More on this eventually.....but I thought I'd point out that I was using the word, since it's thrown around a lot these days. 

Amherst: Unpacking and Packing Again

Last Wednesday (April 15th), I moved away from San Francisco. It was a sad farewell, and I miss it already

I've been spending the last week and a half in Amherst and Boston, and now it's only 48 hours before I am boarding a plane to England.

Here's the general plan, as far as I know it so far:

April 27-May 4: Visit England

May 5-May 12: Visit Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou

May 12: Fly from Guangzhou to Guilin

May 12-early/mid June: "Intern" at the Yangshuo Cooking School - see link.

After That: Travel a bit more in China, ending up in Shanghai.

June 20th: Fly from Shanghai back to London, and then from London back to USA on June 22nd.

It wasn't until today (Saturday) that I started feeling a bit unprepared for my trip. I was at a frisbee tournament in Northfield, MA (watching, not playing) - so I decided to make my packing list there. It seems like a lot of stuff that I am going to bring to China, so I have to narrow it down still. Plus I plan to bring an extra suitcase (or two) full of stuff to bring to UK - since I am moving there in September, I might as well maximize the possessions I bring over for free on the airplane flight.

Right now the office is a mess, but I am excited. I don't speak Chinese. I don't really know what I'm going to be doing in China. But I am excited to document my adventures (both foodwise and otherwise) on this blog and in my writing. So hopefully I'll have regular enough internet access to keep this up to date. 

I took a picture of myself in my office a few nights ago. See? Excited!

I still haven't started packing yet. Or even gathering things. Plus, there are boxes arriving from San Francisco with more things, some of which I might try to bring with me. So I have my work cut out for me for the next two days before I go!

Tonight I'm going out for Mexican food with my parents and grandparents. I won't be seeing much of that in UK or China, so that will be good. More soon!