Aug 15: K's Birthday (Part 2)

After our fabulous lunch at the Space Needle, K wanted to go school clothes shopping at her favorite thrift store in the University District. The U-district is the area surrounding the University of Washington.

In the Puget Sound, thrift store are actually thrift stores that sell second-hand merchandise at bargain prices. S has noticed in California most thrift stores label themselves as "vintage" clothing stores. These "vintage" clothing stores sell their second-hand merchandise at crazy expensive prices.

Since today is K's day, a thrift store shopping we went. Also, K wanted bubble tea from a local shop. S and I split a handmade lemonade. Very refreshing on this hot summer day. After the bubble tea, we went to a second-hand bookstore.

When we got home, I harvested the beets I planted in the container. I wanted everyone to try some before they left for Californ-i-a.

The beets didn't grow as large as I expected. I was expecting the size to be between a baseball and softball. These beets ranged from ping pong ball to tennis ball. Most of the beets were the size of a large chicken egg.


I wanted to try two cooking methods. The traditional boiled method which is boiling for about 1 hours. The other method was oven roasting.

The oven roasting method - cleaned beets, a sprinkle of salt and a splash of olive oil. Bake 375 for about 45 minutes.


The beets after baking for 40 minutes.


I'm not sure if this is the boiled beets, the roasted beets or both mixed up.


Tasting:
The beets turned out nicely. I've never cooked beets before so I was happy.

K and I liked the roasted beets while S said they both tasted the same.
However, both the roasted and boiled beets were good.

The roasted beets were saltier, a darker red and had a light "caramel" flavor.
The boiled beets had a cleaner, sweeter flavor to them.

After an afternoon of shopping and walking around the U-District, we must have been hungry. The beets were devoured. Next year I need to plant more and in a deeper container.

My original intent was to serve the beets with a frise salad, a basic vinaigrette, blue cheese and candied pecans. I did vinegar some beets and added blue cheese. However, it looks like I'll save the full salad for next year's visit. :-)