Lot's O Naked People

Lee, Sarah, Kelly and I all met up at the Fremont Solstice Parade today and saw more than most of you see on an average Saturday. You see, us Seattle-ites really have to celebrate the first day of summer because we don't get much of it and we like to thank the 'sun' gods. We saw naked bikers, naked rollerbladers and just plain naked people marching down the parade.




We saw pirates and bellydancers and monkeys and things I can't explain, but I absolutely loved it all. I like people watching and I like to know there are people as strange or stranger than I am out there, so this was my kind of thing. I also chuckled at the people that looked like they were simply out with there mate for a lovely weekend bike ride when they happened to end up in the middle of the naked biking festival. One lady just opened her jacket and let her chest bare while her hubby rode next to her--I'm sure she feels very liberated right now. By the way, no need to thank me for these super sexy, completely free pictures that I took of what could very likely be your next door neighbor. Especially the the guy that's abiding by the law by wearing his helmet.

The fair section was so crowded that is was nearly impossible to get food or check out the vendors, although Lee managed to work his way into this great tent that had handmade hanging planters and carried it all the way home for me. Aww. Getting a coffee, a clean bathroom or anything we really needed wasn't going to happen in Fremont amongst the thousands of people so we headed over to Ballard and got the last seat at La Carta De Oaxaca. It's so difficult to get into this place, but we thought we'd give it a shot and it all worked out. They have wonderful sangria and traditional mexican dishes--I think the chile rejeno was my favorite today.

This week we went out to eat quite a bit mostly because we were out doing other things at night. We went to Blue C on kickball night, Purple when we went to see "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", Luau's when I went for girl's night out, and Lombardi's when we went to see "Get Smart". Can you tell summer is in full swing?? It's the movie going thing.

Today I'm making a chorizo and kale lasagne. I have these things in the fridge, I need to use them and they seem to go well together. If it's amazing, I'll post my 'on the fly' recipe. Stay tuned.

Pictures of the Week

A few pictures to tell you how my week has been going. My gardens flowery, English looking stepping stones. Lee and I with a fresh egg from our neighbor and good friends chickens. Our new knife magnet and 2 gorgeous new knives, courtesy of my Mom's Christmas gift certificate to Epicurian Edge. The beautiful Le Creuset teapot Lee gave me for our 1 year anniversary.

An Evening With Anthony Bourdain

Being the foodies that we are, Lee and I get some unique offers and wind up in places I only dreamed we'd be someday. For instance, on Friday we were asked to cook for the after party for Anthony Bourdain at the Moore theatre. Now Anthony Bourdain is HUGE for me. I liked him..... really liked him if you know what I mean.... long ago before I ever knew any foodies or got involved with Lee and Culinary Communion. The fact that I eventually found out that he had gone to one of the Gypsy dinners for our little group, or that Lee had cooked for him before, was exciting enough for me. But now he was coming to town and not only did I get to meet him, but I got to cook for him and have him sign my books. Lee and I watched his lecture from the side of the theatre where it was dark and cozy and we could see Anthony up close. He talked about his travels and what he thought of the cuisine of the countries he had visited, much like his books speak of, and looked exactly like he does on TV. I'm sure he's a nice enough guy, but he seemed kink of aloof and jerky to me--I was very happy that the 'fantasy' of AB is nothing compared to the reality of canoodling with my honey while watching the show. Being cold and tough works much better for TV than reality for Mr. Bourdain. I do think getting married and having a baby has softened him though, and I didn't even see him smoking a cigarette once.

We served head cheese corndogs, bone marrow on toast, duck fat popcorn, raw beef tataki and pig trotter spring rolls. Not for the faint of heart. My favorite thing was the orange and kalamata olive ice cream sandwiches. I still can't seem to enjoy pig trotters--they are so chewy and fatty, yuck. After all was said and done, we had the 'Farwell to Gypsy' party at CC where I saw more local chefs and had a lime and anchovy jello shot, gross again. I was exhausted and when we got home around 1:30am I passed out and slept like a baby. Then we went to the Ballard Farmers Market the next morning for some street grub. Speaking of which, they have a new Mexican stand that has the best tamales I've ever eaten, at least the jalepeno and cheese one was!

Last night we had our Master's Class Dinner at CC. I chose something simple, but something I love, which your not really supposed to do for this event considering your supposed to showcase your culinary talent. I already know I'm talented and I'd never made cheese fondue before so that's what I made! Secretly, I think people may have been put off by my choice, but I wanted to make something good that I've never made before and Lee got me this gorgeous fondue pot that I wanted to try out. Well, after buying all these wonderful ingredients and following the directions to the 'T', my gruyere fondue failed miserably. It seized, or coagulated, or whatever you want to call it when your cheese ends up as a hard ball on the bottom of the pot. It tasted good, but it certainly wasn't fondue and I threw away the brick of cheese that finally loosened from the bottom of the pot this afternoon. Maybe I should have made something really fancy that took me 3 days, but I wanted fondue-what can I say? Now I'm going to be obsessed with making it correctly and won't stop until I get it right.

Oh, the annoying cold....again.

Yes, I seem to be sick a lot. Nothing is wrong with me. No need to be worried. I have come to the conclusion that it is a lack of sleep, since I need more than most people, combined with an over-scheduling of social functions. It's fun, fun, fun, then I hit a wall and I've got three more things planned for the day. I'll be fine though and I've taken a couple of resting days after the weekend to get back to normal, plus TheraFlu at night works wonders. It's still a bit slow at work, so they aren't too upset with me if I go home early. See, sometimes it's good when summer doesn't hit Seattle 'til July--well, it's good when you do pedicures and your not feeling so well.

We had another excellent weekend with BBQ's, Celia's 6th birthday party and a concert I'll never forget. Lee has the job of being a 'monster' most of the time Celia and Cypress see him, but it was extra hilarious seeing 7 girls freak out and lose it when he chased them down. I hear they built a monster trap for him after we left and Kimberly found it in the yard. hehe.

I went to a new gyro place the other day and thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It's 2 blocks away and it's called 'King Falafel', I had the chicken schwarma and it was so incredible. So I run home and tell Lee that it's even better than 'Mr. Gyros', our old standby. He doesn't believe me. So a week goes by and we get 'King Falafel' so I can prove my newfound love for chicken schwarma to him, and it's not good at all! I mean it's okay, but not like it was the first time. This happens to me all too often. I go somewhere new and it's awesome, I go back and it's terrible, only when I go back the second time I always take someone with me to show them how amazing the food is, then end up feeling like a shmuck that doesn't know what she's talking about. This is why McDonald's is running the world--consistency. You know you are going to get the same fries every time, and they are good without fail. I guess we are headed back to Mr. Gyros for the summer.

Big Grey Whale

Hey there! This was an extremely full Memorial Day Weekend.

Starting on Friday we went to Assaggio's with Meghan and Andy--that place is always really yummy. Then we went to the Cinerama that evening to see 'Indiana Jones'. Not so good, really bad ending, don't go. I managed to work on Saturday after a good 4 hours of sleep, then came home and passed out before starting on my short ribs.

Sunday morning we got up early, went to the gym to work out and then walked over to the Ballard Sunday Farmer's Market to pick up fresh bread for the HITK party. Of course we got a crepe and a couple of Seattle Dog's as well, gotta love that street food grazing. Then we cooked all day and had our dinner party, which turned out to be very grown up. Or I guess you could say I kinda felt like an adult, with a nicely set table and all the pretty stuff--fancy. The next get together will be a BBQ with greasy burgers, you know, paper plates and such. Much more casual.

Monday we got up early again to go car shopping--isn't our new used car adorable?? My old Honda was falling apart and quickly, so the CRV seemed like a great choice. We laughed so hard throughout the process of buying a car that I think the car salesman got a complex, but we crack eachother up, what can I say. In the afternoon we went to Wingdome with Dannie, Rob, Devin and Ryan, then had them over for a little Wii Mario Kart. Oh, and I dared Lee to eat a super hot wing, which he did and survived. See picture above...still alive.

Tomorrow I'm holding Heidi's hand while she gets her nosed pierced, just like the one I've got. She wants to surprise her chef hubby, Gabe, with the fancy jewel when he arrives home from France. Then I'm finally planting my basil since I think it's warm enough and picking up Sarah and Sean from the airport (they took a trip to North and South Carolina). Then it's back to work and next weekend is already full, whew.

Happy In The Kitchen Club

It's our first, and who knows, maybe our last, Happy In the Kitchen Club dinner. The lineup of cooks are as follows: Me, Lee, Suzanne, Jennifer and guest chef Susan. Plus we have, Wendy, our own sommelier who is providing lovely wine pairings. We started this club because we wanted to cook difficult, but tasty recipes, so we chose a book that seemed to match our needs--Happy In The Kitchen, by Michel Richard. I did a quick search and found there is another HITK Club out there as well. Copy cats! Although I see they were the first, it still makes me want to show them up. The lady that wrote about her club said she started with the Syrah Braised Short Ribs, the same thing I'm making, and now I can't stand her. I guess I am competetive about some things, as long as it's not sports.

It takes about 3 days to make this recipe. One day to shop, one day to prep and do the initial cooking and the next day to finish it off. The shopping is extensive, I went to at least 5 places in the market to gather various ingredients, mainly Don and Joe's Meat Shoppe, Dilaurentis Specialty Store, Market Spice and various produce stands. I actually battled the tourists carrying at least 40 pounds of stuff through Pike Place and when each seller asked what I was making and how they could help me, they then proceeded to ask me if they could come to our party. I was very flattered--I guess the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I chose this recipe because it looked good and I didn't really pay much attention to the ingredients, but once I saw how many ingredients this called for, I realized this is a once a year kind of treat. It takes applewood smoked slab bacon, the best short ribs you can get, two bottles of syrah and a bottle of port--not cheap. Plus if you spend all that money on wine and such you are certainly going to get the best organic produce available which makes this whole thing add up. I read there will be plenty of leftovers, so I guess this makes it more worth while--short ribs for a week.

Fast forward to a few hours later after the HITK party---no leftovers. Another term for short ribs would be really good pot roast that takes tons of time and money. I'd order them in a restaurant anyday and appreciate all the work that went into them, but not so sure I'd be into making them for the heck of it again.

The garden!

I did it! With the help of my Mom, Lee's Mom and many others, I finally put my first veggie and herb garden together. Now, I'm going to shout for joy if these things actually grow and produce something I can cook with, but for now I'm just glad I did something I've always wanted to do. So far I've got 5 varieties of tomatoes, a spicy red pepper plant, garlic, chives, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, thyme, sage, dill and basil. I have friends that are planting the other herbs in a sort of neighborhood co-op so we can give and take what we want. I also added a hanging plant to our front porch, blue for Lee and red for me. Let's hope I don't kill that one too, I have a black thumb.

This was an extremely busy, but fun weekend--filled with lot's of beginning of summer festivities. We spent our first 85 degree day of the year at the University Farmer's Market, eating our first round of fair food (aka, Biringer Farms Strawberry Shortcake) and drinking way too much beer in the heat. Then we went out to eat at a wonderful Argentinian restaurant, the Buenos Aires Grill, with friends later that evening. We've been to three bbq's and I've worked in the yard quite a bit, plus listened to a lot of Lee's new favorite song, Booty Man. It's pretty funny if you want to check it out.

We also went to the Phinney Farmer's Market, the one that is in our neighborhood. Karen and I got off the bus after a long day of work and walked around, all sweaty in our black work clothes, and thank goodness Lee came to pick us up so we didn't have to walk home, which was my intention. It was just too hot! We found some asparagus that we grilled, some fresh herbed cheese curds that are now gone and two beautiful local steaks. Plus the pizza guy was there and once again I want my own pizza oven in our back yard--it's the only way to have real, Italian style, thin crust, yummy pizza.

Summer Salad

I've kinda been 'off' cooking for a few months. Between moving and all the new stuff that has happened lately, I just haven't had the time to do that. Lee and I eat late and I look forward to our evenings together, but sometimes we fill them with movies and friends and walking--it ends up that cooking is the last option. I'm really determined to get back into it this summer, plus I've started the 'Happy In the Kitchen' Club and since I'm hosting the first one, I've got to do the main course. Why couldn't I do the appetizer??!! They are always much tastier and more interesting to concoct. I did find the time to make a salad that I think I'll make again. Mixed greens, strawberries, chicken, gorgonzola, tomato and avacado--very tasty and it's even seasonal right now.

Mother's Day is tomorrow and we are headed to Salty's on Alki with all the Mom's. I even got a Mom's Day card myself for being a God Mom! We are planning on working out in the morning, then getting eye exams, then having dinner with the family--if all goes accordingly. Things are always changing around here. Well, I'm off to watch a movie with my man--have a wonderful Mother's Day to all you Mother's!

A Crimp in My Blog Style

This is a picture of our new dining room table and chairs, it even has a hutch to go with it. Lee and his Dad put it together and it fits perfectly into our dining room. This is the first time I've had a table to eat on in so many years, I'm not sure what to do about it, but right now the cats like to sleep on it and I put a couple of paintings from my nieces on top of it. It's got many uses!

I'm finding that life interferes with blogging quite a bit. I'd like to say I have time to blog at least once a week, but that is simply not proving to be true. Maybe it's just that the flowers are blooming and the weather is getting better and when I do get a chance, I'm outside or dreaming about something.

Moving has been a challenge for us. All these changes in so little time are scary and they take some mental time to wrap our heads around them. I'm kind of a schedule-type girl in some ways and I like having a routine, and right now we just haven't found much of a routine. We still hang out with friends a lot, but most of the time I just have so much house stuff to do, I'm not quite sure where to start. Then I sort of give up and watch 'Family Guy' because I can't figure out which to do first. This is when I realized that we've only been here for a month, so of course I still haven't completely settled in yet. We've accomplished more than most would have this month and seen and used nearly all of our new hood. Some of it isn't so great, like the sushi I had for lunch at Mori that is 2 blocks away. Don't Go. Ever. And the fact that restaurants close around 10pm, a little early for our taste. On the flip side, there's lots of good coffee. I like my bus better-- there aren't any crazies that sit next to me. And I live with Lee, so I'm the luckiest girl on earth.

Still, having a routine is boring to some, but for me it allows me to do things like blog more. And to feel better. To walk more, and to be more authentic when I do see people because I won't be so scattered. So I guess this is where we are at in the moving process. We've moved, but not really adjusted, and I guess that takes much longer. Until then, we keep our heads high and take one step at a time.

Better Late Than Never

I know, I know, I've been back from Maui for a while and still haven't blogged. People are noticing, both a nice surprise and a bit of guilt on my part have surfaced. What can I say? Life is truly busy, and in a good way. Vacation was wonderful and I came home ready for the onslaught of what the next couple of months will bring. It's about this time every year that I remember all the things I want to do in the summer and how there simply isn't enough time to do them all--summer just isn't long enough in Seattle. I've decided I'd like to start doing some anti-social things in the evenings since Lee and I are like the social King and Queen of Seattle, or it seems like that sometimes. I'd like to go to the gym or go for a walk. I'd like to cook more, especially from my new 'Happy In The Kitchen' Cookbook. I'd like to do more volunteering, or walks for good causes. I'd like to hit some of the farmers markets in the evenings. I'd like to take more baths. And I'd really like to grow herbs and veggies, and become more of a gardener.

Speaking of gardening, with the help of Lee's Mom and my own, I've started doing some things in our yard. I know nothing about plants and I have a black thumb, but I look like I really know what I'm doing now that we've moved into a house that is completely landscaped--it even has a sprinkler system. So every day is a new surprise in the garden. Most of the plants I've never seen and I've got flowers popping up everywhere. This sudden beauty really gives me the inspiration to keep it going and I've even decided to attempt a veggie and herb garden, something I've always wanted to do. I took pictures of our yard and all the things that are blooming, it's so pretty.

We've also been a on a Mexican binge this week and have gone to two local restaurants, Taqueria Tequila and El Chupacabra. They are both authentic and tasty, especially the margaritas at El Chupacabra. You should definitely try them if you are in our neighborhood--order the carnitas or carne asada tacos at both places, yumm. Tonight is also the last Gypsy dinner and we decided to go at the last minute. I'm grateful that with every ending, there is a new beginning just around the corner, so I'm not too sad about this. We have great memories of friends and food and drinks at many Gypsy's, and we will have great ones in the future as well. There we go, being all social again.