Weekend visit with Kalina in Athens, Georgia

Over the weekend of February 8th through 10th, I visited my friend Kalina in Athens, Georgia. Kalina and I attended grad school together, and she has been in Georgia for a couple of years now, working on her PhD. It was a lovely, memory-making weekend.

I knew that the plane I was going to take to Athens from my connection in Georgia was going to be small, but I had no idea that it was going to be this small:
The interior photo makes it look more spacious than it really was. There was room for 2 pilots and 16 passengers. It was like a little van in the sky, but with a much louder engine. I was one of four passeners on the flight in, and five passengers on the flight out. I don't know how US Air/Mesa can afford to keep this route going, but I'm glad they do. The taxi ride to Kalina's apartment took all of five minutes - much better than flying in to Atlanta and bussing over to Athens.

Kalina insisted that I sleep in her room, which was just lovely.

It was so nice to wake up to exotic plants and sunshine.

She really spoiled me.

A building that I found beautiful:

Another building that I found beautiful, the old jailhouse:

Easily the most bizarrely intriguing thing I saw in Athens, the tree that owns itself:
This was the only photo that we remembered to have taken of ourselves, in front of the tree that owns itself.

Other highlights of the weekend included long walks around Athens and the University of Georgia campus, exploring an art museum at the university, attending a play, watching Kalina direct a rehearsal, eating yummy food cooked by Kalina, meeting Kalina's friends, and much else. It was a very packed and enjoyable 48 hours.

blueberry chutney in a blueberry pot

For my birthday, Dustin and Melanie sent me an adorable blueberry mini-casserole, made by Le Creuset. It's my first LeCreuset bakeware, and I was very excited about it when it came in the mail. I decided I really should christen it with something blueberry-based. I couldn't find an appropriate recipe, so I made one up: Baked Blueberry Chutney. It's not only cute, it's also tasty!

I might as well share the recipe. I made this up as I went along, so the ingredient proportions are only estimates:

4.4 oz (125g) blueberries
1/4 cup finely-chopped onion
1/4 cup dried currants
1 tbsp diced pickled jalapeno peppers (we get ours in a jar, already diced)
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup cider vinegar

1) Combine all ingredients in a baking dish, but reserve about 15 berries for the topping.
2) Bake uncovered for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring two or three times during baking.
3) Top with reserved berries. Serve cool or at room temperature.

You could probably get just as good a result by simmering all the ingredients on the stovetop for a while, but it's so much prettier baked in my casserole.

We ate most of it as a dip, with Trader Joe's tortilla chips. But it could probably be used the same way most chutneys are used, as a garnish or as a topping or marinade for chicken or fish.

salmon steaks a la Alton Brown

We prepared these heavenly circles according to the directions in a DVD that Dustin and Melanie gave us for Christmas, a collection of the best of Chef Alton Brown's show, "Good Eats." After prepping the circles (which is demonstrated in the following photographs - those with an aversion to images of raw flesh should not proceed), they were dredged in a spice mixture, then broiled so that the spices form a crispy crust. Unfortunatey, we were too enthusiastic about these last two steps to remember to take pictures. Preparing the circles was very time-consuming, but definitely worth it because it allows the steaks to cook evenly - and they were so pretty, too. It was some of the best salmon I had ever tasted.