Tahlequah, Oklahoma...

...capital of the Cherokee Nation.

We happen to arrive in time to see the Keetowah Band (band as in tribe or clan) Celebration, which features, among other things, a dance competition.































































Since we have some time off, we also go to the Cherokee Heritage Center, where we get a taste of traditional Cherokee life.

Robert, our guide, shows us some traditional dances...


















...and how to hunt (I got the rabbit in the neck, which was very satisfying)...


















...and how to play stickball. The original Cherokee version was a war game, so there were basically no rules. You had to get the ball between two goal posts, but you were allowed to whack at people's heads, knees, eyeballs, etc.



The modern version is slightly less violent - you're supposed to hit a wooden fish, perched waaay up on a pole.


















Franco hit the fish, so Robert gave him a certificate. He was only the 5th person to hit a fish this year!




Robert also talked about basic Cherokee laws and customs. Did you know that the Cherokee women were the ones who owned everything? Read all about it here.



The Cherokee alphabet.

In the mid-1800's, the Cherokee had a higher literacy rate than the European settlers.





Robert's wife, Veronica, shows PJ how to spin.











This is Fred, the extremely antisocial museum cat, waiting for us to leave.







And here we are, back in our rooms at Tenkiller Lodge, which is very quaint and in the middle of the woods.

On the road again...

Packing up and moving on...















...to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation.

Will do my best to find interesting Cherokee snacks.

A Roundup of Rolla Eats

Restaurant #1: Alex's Pizza Place






Pizzas, pastas, and Greek things. Your typical neighborhoody pizza place.

Good sauce. Dough shoulda been proofed just a little longer, though.
























Restaurant #2: Joe & Linda's Tater Patch.




With a name like that, how could we not try it?

Turned out to be a smoke-filled bar. And we were there on poker night.

Beer was $1.50 a pint. And that's nice beer, not Bud or some garbage like that. I've never seen Ish so happy - he looked like he was going to cry.








Wisa got the pork tenderloin sandwich, which was the size of her head.

The menu warned that it was large. She finished it, though. Because she's a pro.

This was better than the other pork tenderloin sammies we had in Iowa.









Britt, the Boy, and I each get the BBQ pork tater, which is an enormous baked potato covered in pulled pork doused in bbq sauce and topped with butter and sour cream.


This is why America is fat.

It was not bad, but the sauce was a little too sweet and commercial-tasting for me.


I fee like this:

RAW-lah, Mi-ZOO-rah

The Most Interesting Thing that happened today:

Britt got hooked on Heroes.

Heh.

We get our dog fix...

...at the Kanoya's in St. Louis.

They are long-time friends of Roy & PJ's, who graciously offered to have us over for Chinese snacks on our way to Rolla, MO.

And we meet their dogs, Matsu...






















...and Taiko.

















Matsu reminds us of a certain shameless black dog we left @ home.


























Thank you, Kanoya family!

Seattle

Concerts in Auburn & Edmonds, both Seattle 'burbs.




Dylan plays his final concerts of the fall tour.

Thanks, Dyl! Good job, rookie!





We have two days off after those concerts (and by "off," I mean "we only have to do one workshop each day"), so we have time to see some friends.





We have lunch @ Uwajimaya with Shawn (former SJT PM) and her hubby, Scott.








It's nice to be around so many Asian snacks.



I mean, other snacks are nice, but I yam what I yam, after all.













Tempura udon from the food court! Not exceptional, but hot, solid, and exactly what I needed after a rainy Seattle morning.















After our nice lunch, we do a workshop for Seattle Matsuri Taiko.








We also did one for Seattle Kokon/Kaze Daiko/Northwest Taiko, but I didn't take any photos, thhpt.




Next day: dinner @ Tyler (another former SJT PM) and Thy's!
















Vietnamese hotpot.

You wish you were there.

It rocked.









Tyler explains the hotpot spread: fish & shrimp balls, mustard greens, chrysanthemum greens, shrimp, sliced beef and tofu. With awesomely super-salty fish sauce for dipping. And rice noodles for slurping.














For dessert: Thy made blueberry cobbler from Cook's (recipe created by Erin & me, thankyouverynuch).

















And afterwards, Tyler's homemade ume shu.

Mmmm.
















And then we all sign their guest book.











































Thanks, Tyler & Thy! Thank you, Seattle!

Potluck

Potluck and workshop hosted by the Idaho Oregon Buddhist Temple in Ontario, Oregon.

We like potlucks.






This one featured lots of homegrown produce: corn, tomatoes (peeled, halved, salted, & lightly sugared), raspberries and blackberries (encased in various jello homes), cukes, kabocha, and of course, rice.
















There really is nothing like a church potluck. And this one was JA, to boot.

Nice.










Afterwards, they gave us a giant bag full of homemade cookies, chocolates, candy, and other omiyage. And beer.

Thank you, IOBT!

Alice Waters is my Fairy Godmother

After a scenic, sporadically snowy, and event-filled drive..

















...we arrive at Albertson College in Caldwell, Idaho.

Loyal readers will remember our trip to the Pepperdine U cafeteria.

Albertson College's cafeteria makes Pepperdine's look like a McDonald's, which is shocking, considering Pepperdine is in Malibu and we are currently in Caldwell, Idaho.

We happened to have lunch there on their annual "Eat Local Challenge" day. Almost all of the food served was grown within 150 miles (again, we are in Idaho, not Berkeley).

It was like I had imagined my ideal cafeteria, and poof - there it was.


























We sampled groundcherries (aka Cape gooseberry), which look like mini tomatillos but taste like pineapple, pluots, really peppery arugula, lemon cukes, and tiny, super-sweet strawberries. The salad bar had fresh peas (fresh!), handmade mozz, three kinds of tomatoes, pattypan squash, whole cloves of roasty garlic in olive oil...

The pasta station had linguini with chicken, tiny fairy tale eggplants, and black basil. I had the grill special, which was a steak sandwich with cheese (the origin was given, but I can't remember the name of the cheesemaker) and a side salad with lemon cukes and red onions. The steak was thinly sliced, caramelly brown, and really, really good. The soups were heirloom tomato gazpacho (Yurika & Dylan loved it) and pozole (spicy! yum!).








































And this was after I had eaten my weight in local, freshly-picked peaches (part of our backstage snacks, provided by Sylvia, our lovely presenter).

Here is this story from another, more informed perspective.

Seriously, I'm going to move here.

Some photos from the Hamilton Farmers' Market, which, like the rest of Hamilton, was friendly, cute, and loaded with amazing snacks.

There were vendors roasting peppers over an open fire, selling gallon-sized freezer bags filled with frozen huckleberries, and bake stands galore.
























This blueberry scone was so jam-packed with berries that they were falling out.







A study in pate brisee (that's pie crust for you non-cheffy peeps):


Solid construction. No escaping filling or oozing juice.











But after the first bite, it's totally fall-apart tender and flaky (that's hard to do), with just the right amount of cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. And the filling is pure Granny Smith apple, with some lemon and a wee bit of sugar.

Study that, everyone. That's an A+ turnover.




PJ makes friends wherever she goes.











This is obviously not from the Farmers' Market. It's just a photo of a funny label.