Friday Five- Oyster Mountains, Nell and Mary, and the Simple Joy of Eating Local
Another great week of trying to live in an Earth-friendly way- lots of adventure and not too much stuff.
1. The Shortest Distance my Food has Ever Traveled
We had a weekend away, and the coolest part was having oysters out in the open air on the farm where they were caught. It was beautiful and fun, and the oysters were so delicious. It really makes the argument for freshness, but also for buying things from people who appreciate the ingredients they are using.
I loved the whole experience, and I would highly recommend Hama Hama Oysters if you are ever on the Hood Canal. Food doesn't have to be fancy to be just amazing.
2. This Giant Pile of Oyster Shells
I love that Hama Hama decorates their space with the shells, but look how many they have left over! It's a good reminder of how much waste our food makes when you look at the impact across many, many eaters. Just such a cool, weird experience.
3. Nell and Mary
I saw these really beautiful oyster tea towels at Hama Hama Oysters, so I looked up the company, and Nell and Mary is a company based in Oregon that makes beautiful towels, kids clothing, aprons, and napkins. Great prints (except the "m" which I think looks a bit like a swastika)- might make a great gift!
4. SNOW!
It snowed in Seattle, and it made me so happy.
5. Eating Local, Wherever You're At
We have mostly given up on eating at chains at all. Buying your food locally means that you are continuing to invest your own money in your own community.I think this is even true when you travel; it can be easy to land somewhere familiar instead of taking a risk, but it is worth it to support where you travel to, actually try the local fare, and hopefully travel further than your food did to get there. Big bonus- in the age of Yelp, it isn't even that much of a risk anymore.
Thank you interwebs, because we discovered some serious gems on our trip. We found an awesome family-owned Peruvian restaurant on our road trip (big step up from an Applebees). I mean, I love Peruvian food, but this rice was kickass. Everytime we do that turn down by Tacoma, we are going back there. The next morning, we ate at a small diner. We were pretty obviously the only people there from out of town, but The Boy got hash browns with fried oysters from up the road on them. WAY better than Denny's. We got pizza for dinner (after our amazing oyster lunch), and the pizza shop was the kind of wonderful bizarre that only happens when an owner is there, not beholden to some board, and is also weirdly obsessed with their two bulldogs (who live in the dining room). So weird, and the pizza was pretty good. Not as good as the bulldog obsession, but what can be really?
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