GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
tags: Seattle Washington, Ballard Farmer's Market, fresh produce, fresh fish, wine, flowers
Dinner at Shannon's,
using fish, produce and wine from the Ballard farmer's market.
"Do you photograph every meal you eat?" Shannon sounded amused as I pointed my camera at the mushrooms in the frying pan.
"Well .. not exactly," I replied, thinking of all the meals that I had photographed, realizing that nearly all of them were meals I had eaten while traveling.
"After photographing parts of the Farmer's Market, it just seems to be the right thing to do, since we are now eating the spoils that we collected there."
I sat at Shannon's table and pushed the cheeses around on a plate, trying to get the perfect photograph.
A taste of cheese helped to inspire me. While I was photographing the cheeses, Shannon removed several fresh steamed beets out of the oven. The red beet was so dark that it was nearly black in color!
These are fresh beets that have been steamed and peeled.
I also photographed the tomatoes, which, like the beets, included large fruits of both a deep red and a bright yellow color.
I've mentioned this before, but even though I am very allergic to tomatoes, I still eat them. In fact, I like to eat fresh, vine-ripened tomaotoes more than nearly anything in the world, including chocolate (I know; this is difficult to imagine, considering the depth of my fondness for chocolate).
Fresh roasted fish in olive oil with basil and garlic (garlics removed).
Shannon also roasted fresh fish (halibut?) in olive oil with garlic (she removed the garlics before I managed to snap this picture, unfortunately).
By this time, several guests had arrived and the kitchen was getting crowded, so I focused my camera lens on the flowers that Shannon bought at the Farmer's Market.
And here's another close-up of the flowers;
Finally, dinner was nearly ready, so I put some of the food onto the table and managed to snap a picture before everything was eaten.
Not only was the dinner wonderful, but the day was perfect, capped off by a stunning sunset behind the Olympic Mountains that I photographed from Shannon's back porch.
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Hey girl!
Your images invoke great memories of your trip to town! How's Venus?? The fish was actually fresh, never frozen wild Alaska Coho salmon caught the day before! The garlic - tons of heads that I roasted until totally caramelized - were from my friend Bruce's garden here in Seattle. The cheeses were aged goat with truffle oil from Estrella Family Creamery in Montesano, and one I brought back from my wine tasting trip to the Okanagan BC area. (check it out on shannonborg.wordpress.com) Those flower shots are so lovely! Thank you for this memory!It was so much fun to cook for you and some of the old Big Time boys!
Posted by: Shannon | October 10, 2008 5:47 PM