Saturday, June 27, 2009

Oh, the berries

The unambitious to-do list for the weekend included: get more Oregon strawberries while they're still in season. It's a short season, a short very sweet season. Look at these:
They're small:
And they're red as rubies all the way through, and they are as sweet as a mouthful of jam. They are so good. And in a blink, they'll be gone, which is very sad, but the consolation is that there will be raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and marionberries (which are kind of like blackberries), and those seasons are longer. Soon we'll go out to this island in the Columbia River that's full of you-pick berry farms and we will get obsessive-compulsive and not be able to stop picking. With the raspberries and blackberries, especially it's like that: they're these endless walls of berries, right at eye level, and you just can't stop picking! Oregon is berry-land. Not just berries, but apples and pears in the fall, and grapes of course -- wine grapes, that is. I don't know about table grapes. And cherries! Amazing cherries. I [heart] summer.

Oh, so I was making some banana muffins today -- the third batch in as many weeks because we can't seem to eat the bananas fast enough; with the increased heat, they just turn so fast. Darn it, that means muffins! The first batch I made with coconut and sunflower seeds, the second with blackberries, and this latest batch coincided nicely with the arrival of a flat of strawberries. So:
The strawberries made the batter a little pink, which was so cute I went ahead and added a teeny bit of food coloring. Because, you know: pink! But once baked, the pink is pretty subtle. Also, I overdid it on the bananas on this batch so they're not fluffy, and not really photogenic, but they taste good.


We went to see the movie "Up" last night -- oh my gosh it's soOoOoOoOoOoOo goOoOoOoOoOoOd!!! You have to see it!!! It's the new Pixar animated movie, in 3D, and it's just wonderful, so moving and funny and beautiful. My favorite Pixar yet, and I love them [almost] all. (The car one, not so much.) Jim and I both cried behind our 3D glasses, and we laughed a lot too. If you haven't planned to see it because you think it's for kids, it's really not. I think it's more for adults, though kids can certainly love it too. It's about love and loss, loneliness, putting off your dreams, seizing your dreams, adventure, longing, friendship, and . . . more. And there's an awesome dog in it :-)

14 comments:

storyqueen said...

I looooooooooved Up!!

It has everything a movie should have...excellent storytelling, lots of heart, and dogs flying little planes!!!

Russell is the best!

Shelley

(Maybe you should name professor "Kevin")

myrna said...

Okay. I'm going to see that one. The preview was hilarious!

Anonymous said...

I just went to see Up too! It was adorable, and really meaningful!
Personally, I think Dug the dog stole the show.
''My master made me this collar so I can speak--SQUIRREL!"
Lol!

Enna Isilee said...

I LOVED UP! Cried all the way through, with a few laughs. "I was hiding under your porch because I love you."
And I'm loving strawberry season here too, though I don't think ours are as good as yours sound.

Laini Taylor said...

Enna Isilee, I think that's my favorite line from the movie! Dug was awesome :-)

Amber said...

OMG those look sooooo good. Mmmmmm!

:)

persnickety_jen said...

UP was fantastic! I don't usually cry at movies, but I definitely started tearing up 4 or 5 times during this one. It was so sweet.

"...I do not like the cone of shame!" :)

And those berries look absolutely delicious! And I totally agree with you - strawberries are one of the best things about summer.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

i want to see UP - i herad some dogs were to scary for my 5 1/2 year old and ut seemed odd to do it for my date night BUt after reading this - I think its a great idea :) hope you are feeling ok!

Laini Taylor said...

Shelli, it's a great date movie! The trailer really conceals the fact that this is a love story, a beautiful and bittersweet one.

Unknown said...

Why do I read your blog, why oh why? Michelle and I got some mediocre raspberries at the grocery store and we're remembering how last year we picked raspberries on the 4th of July just outside of Portland. Every time you post something about picking berries, hiking on Mt Tabor, getting Laughing Planet, going to the Tilamook Cheese Factory, etc. it's just torture. I know, I need to stop talking about moving there and just do it, if only it were that easy.

Catalina said...

I have been there...in the actual place in Venezuela (amazing) and the movie! SO beautiful!

(all we need is love...ta ra ra ra ra)

Laini Taylor said...

Monkey God, you DO need to move here, clearly! And by the way, we had Laughing Planet last week, and another night, after a fabulous dinner at Tin Shed Cafe on Alberta (maybe we'll have to go there when you're in town), we felt the urgent need for Voodoo Donuts. Mango, of course :-) Sorry for the torture!

And Caty, I didn't realize that was a real place in the movie! I assumed it was totally made up. How cool! (Okay, I just looked it up, and I guess the actual waterfall is made up, but it's modeled after Canaima National Park and Angel Falls, which looks amazing. Lucky you, going there!)

Catalina said...

I'm FROM there Laini...:)

(I went to the Roraima tepuy that is the only one of these flat mountains that you can actually hike, Conan Doyle's Lost Word is inspirated from there

xoxo

Suzanne Young said...

my kids are begging to see it again. It was a wonderful movie. My favorite Pixar!