What's in Our Bellys

Yes, it's another installment of Kelley's Food Photography because it seems that we've had a lot of parties to go to lately at other peoples houses, or we are just cooking at home. I've been doing some spring cleaning since the weather has been so beautiful and I even saw some flowers out today and new bulbs coming up. Yay for spring!


Avgolemono soup I made from Food and Wine Magazine. It's very easy and one of Lee's favorite soups. Also, there is no cream, milk or oil in here, yet it's a creamy looking soup because I pureed the brown rice I put into it. Interesting way to thicken soups or not use milk.


This is a pasta I made based on one we had at Sitka and Spruce. It's one of my favorite I've ever made or had out--it's got red cabbage, shitake mushrooms and goat cheese. This isn't the best picture, but the combo is really excellent.

This is the box of chocolates Lee got me for Valentine's, along with a very sweet love letter in the Stranger. I think it's the prettiest box of chocolates I've ever seen!

Nutella tart I made for April's Valentine's Day party. It was an organ meat party with lots of pate and foie gras. So good!

A huge platter of chocolate covered strawberries--I think eating these says Valentine's Day to me. Even if strawberries aren't in season.Jello shots that Lee made in strawberry, rasberry and mixed berry--made with Vampire Vodka.

This perfectly crusty, chewy and soft bread is not from France or from a local bakery--it's from April's oven. I was shocked, but I gues if you bake the bread in a dutch oven and do it correctly, it really can turn out like this.
Foie Gras on a rosemary waffle with Calvados ice cream. Yum.

Super Bowl Munchies

I had the glorious goal of making a fabulous goat cheese cheesecake with a cherry balsamic glaze for our Super Bowl party, but the best part of that ended up being the lovely picture. Yes, it looks good, but don't be decieved--it tasted like cardboard. Very dry, overcooked and pretty awful. The cherry balsamic glaze was very good, but without the cheesecake to go with it, I got frustrated and ended up throwing it out this morning. I WILL try again!! I also never received the cheese curds from Wisconsin. I failed to read the shipping rules and apparently it only takes 2 days to get them if you live in Wisconsin. So we are still waiting on them and I've prepped for poutine, possibly the worst thing you can ingest, but definitely one of the tastiest. And you can only get the good stuff in Canada, unless you are willing to make it yourself, so that's what I do. Sounds illegal, but it's not.

We had other excellent hits, like pigs in a blanket, Lee's guacamole, old family recipe of artichoke dip and April's famous pulled pork mini sliders. I had a good time watching the commercials and I'm fairly sure that was the highlight for most people, although it was a good game. We also had a great salad the other night with roasted chili chicken, granny smith apples, some really stinky blue cheese, lemon and arugula. I really love warm chicken fresh out of the oven on a cold salad.

Tonight I'm going to work and then a party at Culinary Communion that showcases their trips to France, Italy and Germany, plus they will be serving local foods from those regions. I'm going as 'one that has already been on the France trip' with CC, so I guess I'll tell people how much I loved it. Should I leave out the fact that you can meet the love of your life through these sorts of adventures?? That would be quite the pitch and I'm not sure Gabe and Katie want to travel with ten single women looking for love. Could make an interesting reality TV show though.

Issues with Eggplant

I just have to tell you that right now I'm roasting vegetables. This is supposed to be a level one, easy culinary task and yet I can't seem to get it right. One of my favorite veggies is eggplant and the reason why I only eat it when I'm at a restaurant is because I can't seem to cook it correctly. Right now the majority of my veggies are roasting well, but the eggplant has turned to mush and not only that, but it's sticking so badly to the pan that there is no way to salvage it anyway. And yes, I coated it in oil before baking. So frustrating! So once again, I'll have to order eggplant at all Chinese and Indian restaurants until I get it correct.

Lee's Dad, Terry, had his birthday this week so we invited the family over for a really simple, but tasty dinner. I had just gotten off work so the dinner had to be quick, and I found a great way to throw dinner together quickly while still having a homemade meal with a few courses. Now I couldn't do it without Lee prepping everything before and helping out, but together we can whip out dinner in a minute. This should come in handy in the future. We had traditional swiss fondue with apples and bread, green beans with shallots and pinenuts, endive 'bowls' with beet and blue cheese salad inside and Lee's famous bananas foster for dessert. I tried to get a picture of him lighting it on fire, but I must have been caught up in the moment, so I just got a picture of him after the fact. It was very French and I always love being with Lee's family, my soon to be in-laws. I'm very lucky.

We had an excellent cheese plate this week, you all know this is my favorite food. I also went to the How How shopping center on 12th and Jackson--it's the less expensive version of Uwajimaya. I got a ton of things I haven't tried before (like fresh water chesnuts) and came out with two full bags of food for $18, which is pretty good these days.....but, it took me an hour to get through the line and there were so many people pushing me and staring at me that I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon. It was sort a big ordeal, but it was definitely a good way to save a buck-and I made some amazing chow mein and stir frys out of it. That's one thing I've always wanted to do checked off my list.

This weekend we are having a Super Bowl party and I wasn't planning on making anything at all, but instead have a potluck, and well, I'm sure you all know how that is turning out. I can't help myself--I really do love cooking. My friend, Kyleen, and I got on this goat cheese kick and now I'm attempting to make a goat cheese cheesecake with a cherry balsamic sauce. I'm making up the recipe, so we shall see how this goes. Then I started thinking about other things and now I've got this whole menu of stuff I want to make--I even lost my mind temporarily and am having some fresh Wisconsin cheese curds sent to me by mail. They better get here before the super bowl!

I am now guest blogging for a Greenwood blog and my first entry was a review of Gainsbourg, one of our favorite new places. Check it out here: http://www.greenwoodblog.com/archives/213

A Walk Around Greenwood

One of my favorite things to do on my day off is to take a walk around my neighborhood. Lately I've been working nights and the weather has been nice, so I've gotten to do my walks more often. I walked out the door this morning with a light hoodie and a knit hat, and after a couple blocks of slow jogging I was so warm that the rest of my walk was nearly balmy. Winter in Seattle is the absolute best time to walk!

There were a lot of things I wanted in a neighborhood when we were looking for homes and one of the most important was to be within walking distance to parks, grocery stores, the library, restaurants and anything I might need to visit doing everyday errands. And when I say walking distance, I mean within a couple of blocks. I like knowing that if I need a cup of coffee or a late night drink and happy hour, that I can walk there and back within 10 minutes. In a weird way this has always made me feel safe, which is probably why I never felt at home or why I thought that I was the crazy lady in town when I lived in more rural areas. My Mom always felt safer living in the boonies and having a car to get away, or perhaps a gas mask or two (love ya, Mom). I feel safe knowing that if something really awful happens and our world is going down quickly, I can head down the street to buy some groceries and die surrounded by others. Maybe we'll sing songs and and reminisce about when the earth had humans on it, but at least we won't be alone. So it may be sort of morbid, but I'm not one to be afraid of death, and living in the urban core of a city makes me feel safest. I know, I know, you are all wondering how I lasted so long in Montana and Wyoming. Honestly, humans can adapt to anything, but I'm just really happy I found where I belong in my 30's. Could be worse.

I took pictures of some of the cutest homes I walked by and Sandel Park, which is a great local park with lots of swings. Then I headed to the store to pick up some tortillas and onions for making enchiladas this afternoon. Headed over to the library to get a book they had on hold for me. I took my time to notice how pretty it is here in the winter--almost like spring is in the air. Then I came home to see that there was a plane that went down in the Hudson River, and it truly is a miracle that everyone survived. Now I'm done with those enchiladas, which happen to be low carb and low fat--we shall see how that goes. You all know I'm not into that kind of stuff, but I've got our wedding coming up and I'm not paying the photographer that kind of money to take pictures of me busting out of my dress. Wait a minute, even if I do lose a few pounds, I'll still be busting out of my dress. Anyway, I'm just trying to eat a little healthier, no big changes and if Lee takes me out to a wonderful restaurant, I'm still eating something fabulous. And if I go on vacation, then I'm going to enjoy myself to the fullest. But I'm trying, a bit. I even made a no sugar, whole wheat pumpkin cake yesterday and everyone at work said it was amazing and ate it up quickly. I think I have a talent for cooking healthy, but I also know how good things can taste, so I'm always comparing it to the best of the best. Just don't make me eat light yogurt with that fake sugar--soooo gross.

The Planning Has Begun

I thought you might like this picture of Lee. Last night he babysat my godchild, Ryan, and I met him when I got off work just in case he needed me to help out (aka diaper changing). As usual, he found a way to entertain himself by writing no less than 25 phrases on Ryan's Magna-doodle. I am so thankful she's not able to read yet, to say the least. I chose the tamest of the words he wrote---but he did crack me up all night.
We went to the University District Farmers Market on Saturday and found quite a bit more than I had thought was growing in the winter, this is typically the 'chef's' weekly market because of the abundance of local fruits and veggies. There are even two mushroom stands with beautiful black trumpets out this week. And today we went to the Ballard Sunday Market, which is typically the one we go to, and checked out the colorful potatoes and kale (one of my favorite veggies, by far). And the newest and best arrival to the markets?? There is this lady who makes fried egg sandwiches with local eggs, cheese and fresh bread--this is possibly the perfect breakfast, so I'm happy she set up shop.

I edited and added a few links to the right of here as well. The Slog is the Capital Hill and alternative news source that I've been getting plenty of my news lately. Nancy Matthews Blog is a personal blog of a high school friend of mine who recently had a double lung transplant due to cystic fibrosis--it's just amazing to see the progress she is making. The New York Times, All Recipes and Epicurious are some of my favorite websites.

And wedding planning well underway, thanks to all the help I've got from sisters and mom's and Lee and friends and so on. We've got the reception and ceremony site, the photographer, the florist and the honeymoon place. Oh, and I've got the groom. That's the most important part.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and everything else that has happened in the last month.

I had the perfect opportunity and plenty of time to blog for a good week during the Seattle winter storm of '08, but some horrible alien invaded my computer and I got my first virus. I found out quickly that I can live without TV and movies and music, but living without a computer is much harder than I had imagined. So instead of blogging or just looking up every question I ever wanted answered, I hung out at home with Lee and watched movies, played games, talked a whole lot. I don't like the snow at all, but I must say that being snowed in with Lee made it much better and aside from simply getting cabin fever, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Being stuck with your best friend isn't so bad, and we laughed a lot. I heart Lee.

So Christmas was very laid back, even with home made gifts since we couldn't get out to go shopping. And New Year's was at El Gaucho with friends and then off to a party at Culinary Communion. Now we are off to a new year--which always puts me in a good mood-and I'll be celebrating my 34th birthday in a few days. I think we are going out for sushi at Maschiko, which I haven't had in soooo long.

We've been doing quite a bit of cooking and also Lee surprised me after work one evening and took me to Poppy. I've been wanting to go there for quite a while. Jerry Traunfeld is the chef and he used to be the chef at the Herb Farm, probably the best place to eat in this area during the 90's and early 2000's. Anyway, I always wanted to try his food or at least meet him. To my surprise, since chefs of his caliber don't actually cook at their own restaurants, he was cooking the night we went to Poppy. I compare this to going to the French Laundry and having Thomas Keller actually behind the line that evening (this kind of thing never happens). Although Jerry is not Thomas Keller, but anyway. I got a shot of him in the kitchen on the sly then he came out to talk to us and signed our menu for me. He's a very small guy, tiny, and I asked all the questions--Lee and Kyleen just sat there and didn't know what to say. My review? Well, it was really unique. Odd pickles and relishes, a very bitter endive salad, excellent short ribs and a grapefruit/avacado/shrimp salad that stole the show. It all had an Indian flavor undertone, and the best thing there are the appetizers and the desserts by Dana Cree. I really liked it, but it was so interesting that you wouldn't necessarily crave those flavors often. Next up for Lee and I? A special trip to Rover's for the Grand Degustation--my Christmas gift from him.

Here are a bunch of pictures of the past few weeks. My adorable niece Cypress, some friends from CC at a party, apps we made in class and a dark pic of Jerry Traunfeld.

Stuffing Stockings

My future Mother-in-law, Ginny, invited us all to stuff stockings yesterday for the local shelters and homeless kids around Seattle. She had the largest division with over 500 stockings filled! We had so much fun and of course it felt good to give back as well. Last year I volunteered to tutor kids in low income housing projects and I loved it, but it became too difficult for me to do once a week with my own work schedule, taking classes and having a new home so I had to stop doing it after a year. I am now looking for some volunteering activity that is perhaps once a month or I can sign up on days I know I'm free, so that's one of my goals for this next year. Remember, New Year's Resolutions are coming up soon. I've always like New Years Resolutions, it's a time to re-evaluate and see if there are things you can do better in the year to come--it makes me feel good to know I'm actively working on myself and making note of it.

We've got our spa Christmas party at our house tonight so I made my very first gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting. We'll see how that tastes tonight. I also made one of my favorite pasta salads with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes and arugula, but this time I added some salami and extra basil as well. We like it because it's so tangy. I made truffles this week with Sarah and Morgan--Caramel salt, oreo, toffee, kahlua and peanut butter. I'm terrible at making them, despite them tasting good, and I will never make them again. What a pain in the butt!! They are ugly too. Really ugly. The lasagna recipe I promised to report on turned out to be incredible and now my current favorite lasagna and the one I will use from now on. Some of the secrets to it were less noodles, both beef and pork, three kinds of cheese, fresh herbs, red wine and lots of good tomatoes. I also simmered the sauce for 3 hours before I even got started on the assembly of it--it was so good!

I'll be student assisting in a couple of CC classes this week so I'll take pictures and report on what we make. That is if I can get through the snow to get over to Beacon Hill. Happy Holidays!

Celia's Gingerbread House

Celia and I made a date to build a Gingerbread house this week. For a kid that can't buy all the candy in the world she wants, this is a time where she can pick out all the candy she's ever wanted to try and not have to then go and eat it all. Which is why there isn't much of the actual gingerbread part of the house you can actually see. Still, it's very cute. Celia and Cypress went to see Santa this week as well and although Cypress doesn't cry anymore, she still looks terrified of Santa. I can see that--I mean he's sort of strange and he gets all up in your face and he might have terrible breath. So glad I'm an adult and my Santa sitting days are over. And I know my hair is pink, for those of you that haven't seen me in a while, it's supposed to be that way.

We had a great dinner this week of steaks and arugula with some excellent blue cheese from PFI. I'll be making a new lasagne recipe tomorrow night and give pics and and update. This is also a pic of the beautiful sunsets we've been having lately.

Also, we've made it to the dodgeball showdown -not sure how that happened-but that will be tonight on KBUTT Channel 5. Don't bother looking for it.

Marathons, tattoos and carbonara!! Oh my!

Thanksgiving went smoothly this year, not too much work and pretty relaxing if you ask me. Lee and I made the majority of food for dinner, but family members brought things like pies and wine and salads which helped a ton. We made two turkeys, seared duck, spanish scalloped potatoes, kale with bacon, mushroom and sausage stuffing and mushroom soup. Everything was so good--aside from the fact that I'm not a big fan of turkey unless it comes on a sandwich, so I didn't eat much of that. I did, however, eat my weight in pumpkin pie, caramel apple pie, cherry pie, pumpkin cheesecake, creamy jello yumminess that doesn't have a name and pecan pie. Then, I snacked on those things and more carbs before the Seattle Half Marathon, you know to do the carbo load thing. Which gave me the energy to finish the half marathon, Yay! I did it in under 4 hours and that included waiting in line 20 minutes for the porta potty. Horrible. Yuck. I am proud of myself and for me, it was harder than the triathalon I did a few years ago. The constant pounding on the pavement with no stopping or stretching and going as fast as you can was pretty rough on me. Apparently the banana and protein bars I ate weren't enough because later that day (after a tasty Guinness) I nearly passed out from low blood sugar and thank goodness Lee was there to take care of me for the rest of the day. I was pretty much out of it for a good 24 hours. Live and learn, I guess. So I'd like to say the half marathon was successful, but I wish I hadn't gotten sick.

Lee got his second tattoo from Josh at Slave to the Needle, best tattoo shop in Seattle! It's the Douglas crest and it looks so good-- Josh is a great artist. And I've finally figured out what I want for my next one as well-took me a while. Don't ask--you'll see pics when I get it done.

We've been making some really good pasta dishes lately. Katie came over and made us spaghetti with a traditional meat sauce. I never ate spaghetti or red sauces growing up-my Mom didn't really like them and so I never knew how good they could be--now I crave red sauce all the time. I also made the best carbonara I've ever had, better than any restaurant and even what I had in Italy. I took some spaghetti we got at the Ballard market, imported from Italy, and added fresh local eggs, parmesan, cream, pepper, Gabe's guanciale cut into lardons, criminis sauteed in white wine and peas. Now I know traditionally it doesn't have peas or mushrooms, but that's how I like it. And fresh eggs and pancetta or guanciale make all the difference. It's a hearty meal, but I can't stand ordering it when we go out because it's always got that awful, pasty, heavy, no taste cream sauce and old eggs and oscar meyer bacon. I pretty much stay away from cream sauces in restaurants--they don't do a very good job at making it.

Merry Christmas!

Check it out! The decorating begins the day after Halloween in this household. That may change in the future because Lee thinks it's a little insane. Like he said, I'm on Nordstrom time. How can you not like the twinkly lights of the Christmas tree? Putting it up the day after Thanksgiving simply wouldn't give me enough time to enjoy it. Lee and I buy a new ornament every year to add to the memories--we already got this years. From the game store, of course!