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A Valentine’s Day Story

Last weekend, Ben and I were stumped as to how to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day.  My gift was lost in Package Limbo, and all I had gotten for Ben were some Twilight-themed chocolates in a heart-shaped box.  Then, as so often happens, it was NPR to the rescue.

Specifically, it was Food for Thought, which was baby-themed for V Day.  One of the foods cited in this celebration of that term of endearment was a Dutch Baby, a type of pancake that can be found at the Original Pancake House.  I was intrigued, and, knowing how much Ben loves breakfast, began to set my plan in motion.

Since my gift was decidedly uncool, I decided that the rest of my gift would be to make a list of options from which Ben could choose as ways to spend our Sunday together.  (One of our biggest troubles seems to be getting out of the dinner-and-a-movie rut…also, making decisions.)  I included the Original Pancake House, the Crab Pot, P.F. Chang’s, and a variety of theatre/museum/film options.  (Okay, so this is obviously not a major step away from our normal weekend routine, but since all of them required driving to Seattle, it was a step in the correct direction.)  Stuck on the ship on Saturday duty, I emailed him the list.

He chose pancakes, and a stop by a market to get fresh seafood.

Arriving home early Sunday morning, I used the powers of Internet and found the nearest Original Pancake House.  There’s one in Ballard, in the northern part of Seattle, across the 5 from the University district.  In a flash of pure brilliance, I recalled the existence of the Ballard Farmer’s Market, and with some savvy Googling found it was five minutes from our chosen restaurant.  In a few mouse clicks, I had not only found a way to justify driving 45 minutes for pancakes but also obviated the need to drive to downtown Seattle, pay for parking, and battle the Pike Place crowds.

The Original Pancake House is everything that other pancake houses aspire to be: hip, crowded, and delicious.  I went with the Dutch Baby that had inspired the trip, while Ben chose a massive five-egg Spanish-style omelette topped in marinara sauce.  Our waitress forgot to bring our banana appetizer and so knocked the cost of our beverages off the bill.  And we were entertained by the incredibly colorful patrons (although Ben was a bit concerned that one of the hipster breakfasters had chosen to wear his plum-colored tights sans culottes).

We then make our way down to the Sunday market, held in the middle of Ballard’s impossibly chic streets full of one-off stores of boggling variety.  While hardly a blip on the map next to the gargantuan Pike Place Market, the Ballard variety is dog-friendly, totally organic/seasonal, and, in short, entirely delightful.  We were able to pick up gorgeous multi-colored potatoes, fresh cod and mussels, liver-and-peanut butter brownies (a treat for Winnie), just-cut pasta, and everything else we needed for Ben to perform feats of culinary mastery.*

Then it was a quick stop at Miro Tea for drinks for the road, and we headed back to our rental in Blandsville.  But I do believe that we will always remember with fondness our Valentine’s day in the land of hippies, hipsters, Bohemians, and poets.

More photos of our day:

*Except for tomatoes, which we could have bought dried but not fresh–that whole seasonal thing.

Last weekend, Andy, a friend and myself rode our bikes to one of the most famous outdoor markets in Beijing, Panjiayuan Market. Considering that the market is only one mile from our apartment and rather famous, Andy and I were both baffled that in our respective 4 and 2 years living in Beijing, we hadn’t been there even once. We remedied that last Saturday. Panjiayuan initially became famous as an “antiques” market. Unfortunately nowadays real antiques are hard to find, and much of it, like the rest of China, is “fake old” -newly created but made to look old (Think the remodeled Forbidden City, Qianmen and all the “historic” hutongs that were really knocked down and rebuilt in the past decade). However, if you’re not actually looking for antiques, Panjiayuan is a wonderful place. The outdoor market sprawls under a series of pavilions, with vendors displaying their goods on the ground or in crudely crafted stalls. You can buy anything from ceramics to coats of armor. And there aren’t only Chinese vendors, but foreign ones as well. I spotted a group of Africans selling wooden carvings of giraffes and elephants. It was interesting to see the reverse bartering, the Chinese customer trying to get a lower price and the foreign vendor refusing to budge. It was very amusing. I had a little trouble bartering at this market, as most of the vendors didn’t play by the rules. They quoted one price, and when I said it was too expensive and walked away, they did not ask me what my “best price” was. Maybe they could tell that I wasn’t really interested in parting with my money, who knows. In any case, I didn’t end up buying anything, but I did take over the bartering for a painting my friend wanted to buy. I have to admit it wasn’t my best haggling experience, but I believe the price was fair. 195 kuai for a large oil painting (initial asking price was 350). And in the end I did make purchases at the glasses market (“spectacles city”) next to Panjiayuan. One pair of glasses and two half-year contacts all for a grand total of $36. Not bad.