Restaurants on the LAM(b) - A Tasty Adventure

New blog

2012-01-30T21:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry food blog world (yes...all 5 of you). I'm in the middle of creating a new website to feature my photography portfolio, a new food blog, a hiking blog, and a travel blog. I've been failing miserably so I've called in reinforcements. I'm hoping to have a new site up in the next few weeks...and soon you all can follow me at www.sandytlam.com.

Ciao!

They Draw and Cook

2011-10-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is not a restuarant or food discovery, but my friend Graham introduced me to a wonderful new site that I had to share with other foodies. It's called theydrawandcook.com. Basically, people combine art and recipes. Instead of writing out a boring old recipe, they illustrate it in some creative form. The art that comes from these cooks/artists is amazing! Submissions come from all over the world, and this stuff looks good enough to hang on a wall! I suggested compiling them and creating wall paper, because I am pretty sure if given the opportunity, I would totally wallpaper my kitchen with this stuff. Sometimes they don't even tell you what the ingredients are or how much to put in, they just illustrate it. It's beautiful. Graham is currently working on a submission with a friend, so I'm excited to see how that turns out. Check it out! Here is an example of a risotto recipe by Rosanna Gasparini from Venice.
They have a compilation book of this stuff that I really want. I'll have to write about it later if I ever get my hands on a copy. :)

Day 22: Last day of harvest - Cheese Farm

2011-10-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not writing for so long. It's been a crazy week. Our hours have been wonky and by the time I finish editing my photos I am too tired to write about anything...I'll try to get some writing in tomorrow morning as it will be my last day here and all I am doing is packing and having lunch with everyone.

Had to share this great photo of Helena. We learned she is 83! This woman still kills chickens with her hands and harvests grapes faster than any of us and she is 83! Lisa and I wanted to know what her secret is...

So today was was our last day of harvest. Hillary left us on Monday after the festival and we've all been a little sad without her presence - even though it was as silent as it was. I brought my phone with me today to capture some video...so when I get home I'll try to piece it together and I'll post it.

Today we finished gathering the red grapes from Manciano, which is my favorite vineyard. It has an incredible view and the vines are nice and tall and provide some good shade. The rows are a little shorter so they don't seem like they go on forever like they do in San Paolo. I thought I would cry because I was so sad everything was coming to a close but I didn't. I couldn't help but just be happy and appreciate what I was experiencing in that moment. Although when we shared some good laughs, I couldn't help but think about how much I am going to miss these people. I've been struggling to think of reasons to look forward to home, but the thought of going back to my normal life seemed rather dull. Don't get my wrong, I love my life. I've been blessed to have some incredible people in my life, but obviously the experience is just not the same as being out here. But I just recently found out that my amazing friend Graham is in town (Seattle) for a while and not only do I rarely get to see him, but he is going to pick me up from the airport and we are going to see one of my favorite bands, Hot Bodies in Motion (check them out if you don't know them). So I am insanely excited to see a good friend and have a mini trip to Bellingham. I think subconsciously I may be avoiding going home until I have to return to work on Monday.

I spent much of this morning's harvest talking about Graham and his dad Jim. Jim, who was an incredible father figure in my life, passed away last summer after a battle with pancreatic cancer. I always think about him when I am traveling because he was the only that really gave me the last push to start my travel experiences. He was incredibly inspirational, heart warming, and reminded me to live my life happily. I carry his memory and hope his spirit follows during my traveling because he reminds me to take everything in and have fun at the same time. At one point, I stood up to take a break and looked over my shoulder at the view. How lucky am I? Here I am, harvesting grapes in the countryside of Italy with one of the most incredible views one could ever work in. Taking everything in and savoring the memories were my main priorities this morning.

Lunch was bitter sweet. I felt pretty nostalgic. Remembering Daniela's home cooking, the laughs, the conversation, and random guests that would just walk into our kitchen. I reminded Corrado we had not gone to the cheese farm as he has promised so he said we would go if we finished early today.

We dd make it to the cheese farm but only had time to buy cheese. No tour. Still...the place was amazing. Yummy cheese. We went out for appetizers and came home for a cheese feast. What a grand way to spend my last night in Italy. Here is a great photo of Valeria and Corrado from happy hour. :) It pretty much epitomizes their relationship and personalities. I love them!

Wine festival day 4

2011-10-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

Closing day. We were all a bit tired. I slept pretty awful because I switched rooms and the music went all night and then the cleaning began and the garbage trucks and the beeping and then the band practice across the street and then the band playing in a parade...I gave up on trying to sleep. After a tasty breakfast ommlette with onions, proscuitto, mushrooms, rosemary and swiss...I took a nap. Eventually got up again just in time for the parade! What is funny about this parade is that it seemed ot me it was a parade just for 20 and 30-year-olds to build floats and party. Because that's exactly what they did. This float was pretty cool....they made a giant christmas tree out of grapes! Here are some of the others... They love to share wine. After the parade what did we do? Drink more wine. Corrado told everyone to make a serious face for this photo but apparently only Lisa followed through: This one is great. I just love the natural moment this represents. We spent so much time laughing together. This photo is just classic. Eventually hte floats came around again after they were awarded...guess who won? hahaha. I also love this photo below of Corrado cheers-ing to the floats. Overall it was a much more chill evening...followed with fireworks during the closing ceremony. But not before I had the most AMAZING tortellini of my life. I must recreate this.. Cream, sausage and peas. So simple. I think of it like the Italian's version of America's Mac and Cheese. Giovanni told me it was really easy to make. So I thought of easy mac. So simple and so tasty! :)

Wine festival day 3

2011-10-02T04:18:00.000-07:00

Giovanni's friends from Milan came down so this day was really fun. It was nice to itneract with fresh new faces. Plus they were SO nice! They all had some understanding of english. Some spoke better english than others but they were all so sweet! Here we are on the porch in the morning. We were all hiding in the shade because it was so hot out! This photo is courtesy of Daniela (pictured in the blue top sitting on the yellow box. Then we enjoyed a little parade through the center. These girls are so cute. One of my favorites from the trip. Crazy tambourine guy! Then we waited for the grape stomping competition. Basically pro stompers come and press as many grapes as they can by feet and win! It looked like so much fun I told Giovanni I wanted to do it. But apparently you have to be super special. It looked like hard word! They mustve been pressing for 20 minutes or something. In the evening while Giovanni and Lisa went to their fancy tasting again, Giovanni's friends and I spent some good quality time together. We went to another tasting that Corrado got us tickets for. It was in a beautiful stone building. I sampled the red wine with some salami platter. The others tried the dessert wine. And if I had known it was going to be presented so fancy, I would've ordered that too! Apparently the flower inside was soaked in some sort of sweetness. I guessed simple syrup, and they were encouraged to eat the flower...apparently wasn't that bad...Our server was delightful and even brought us some extra tasty treats. Italian people are just so amazing. I love the body language and the use of hands. I've noticed I use my hands a lot more when I'm talking here. So on into the night we adventured. My new friends Roberto and Stefania had some great times laughing and teaching each other the other language. Even though we couldn't understand eachother half the time it was still hilarious. I loved their sense of humor. They kept teaching me all the slang/bad words in italian. It was hilarious. The opener, Bandabardo, go the crowd moving. This great video shows how crazy the place was. The headliner tonight (A band called Rio) was alright...some songs I liked, others I really didn't like at all. And then what was most strangely ironic is that after the concert was over, the background music was "That's amore"...I laughed so hard because that was the last song I expected to hear in Italy. It was just so stereotypical Italy! The second part that was entertaining was a very drunk girl came up to Giovanni and I singing "That's Amore!" very loudly and was pushing us together. I cracked up. Last topper of the night was what I think was a bachelorette party moving through the crowd. Note the phalic balloon near the stage: The best part of the night I didn't even photograph....blame my inability to do any night time photography. We all came back to the house around 3 a.m. and since the music was still going, we just grabbed some bottles of wine that were left over from the fancy tasting Giovanni and Lisa were at and grabbed chairs and sat on the patio. The sky was crystal clear and you could see stars forever stretching over the valley. It was quite the sight. We even managed to scrounge up some energy for random patio dancing. My favorite memory from the trip. That's all I need. Good people and beautiful scenery.

Wine Festival day 2

2011-10-01T04:10:00.000-07:00

My first morning in Daniela's house was wonderful. Being an early riser, I was up and about around 8...I grabbed the guitar I saw in the rec room and brought it onto the patio. I haven't played in weeks so it felt really good to find something to strum. I'm not very good, so it was hard for me to tune it by ear. Plus half of the strings on the classical guitar were steel which was odd. I guess Hillary heard me at some point in the morning because she snapped this great photo from her window above. It was such an incredible feeling to be sitting there in the morning sun looking at the surrounding hillsides. This is the view from Daniela's house: Simply amazing. Just waking up to this alone was breathtaking. Add in strumming the guitar, and I am in heaven. It got pretty warm though so eventually I moved inside.

Giovanni made us a tasty fresh lunch that consisted of a tomato and bell pepper salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar served with piccorino cheese, fresh buffalo mozzarella, and bread. It was tasty! We kept the day pretty chill. Just walked around a bit, came back for naps, and headed out again. Lisa and Giovanni went to a special wine tasting. We didn't go because it was all in Italian and super technical. Here is a video of the tasting, Corrado starts talking about a minute into it. SO GREAT. You can see Lisa at 5:06 and Giovanni at 5:23! While I would've loved to observe the tasting, it sounded way above my head. Got some more stuffed olives... Valeria, Hillary and I walked around and waited for Lisa and Giovanni over some wine. Eventually they finally got out, and we enjoyed some tasty dinner at the seafood stand! I got the seafood pasta. Prawns, mussels, and tastiness! Giovanni got the seafood soup. Which was amazing. It was a tomato based soup and had fish, clams, mussels, prawns, everything. Valeria got the fish salad which was not as fishy as I thought it would be. It was actually pretty tasty. Tasted more like scallops with a light vinegar sauce to me. The concert this time was a little more enjoyable. Some sort of alternative reggae sort of group. They were fun for about 2 or 3 songs. Then it got kind of old in my opinion. But they had some great energy and the crowd loved them. As you can see in this video I found taken that night. I think the highlight for me was watching the crowd. People don't raise glasses here. They raise their bottles. It was hilarious.

Wine Festival day 1

2011-09-30T04:10:00.000-07:00

So here we go. After work, we packed a few things and "moved" to Daniela's house for the weekend. We got there just in time for the opening ceremony, which included the mayor (who they call the "major"), talking and kids from the local schools presenting this year's wine. After all that mumbo jumbo, the kids shook up champagne bottles and proceeded to have a champage war. It was awesome. Then they served champagne and little foaccia bread pieces to everyone around. It was great!
After the fireworks, we proceeded to head to the best street food stand. Corrado and Valeria say that this has the best food. I was just impressed with the tambourine windows! :) We sat down in this awesome old building...here is a photo of Giaccamo climbing on the stairs to give you an idea of what setting. I also snuck a picture of a cook tasting the food in the kitchen! First wine of the night. Giovanni got some kind of pork dish with Polenta. I got the Gnocchi papera (duck). It was basically a duck ragu sauce. It was AMAZING. the sauce was incredible, but the Gnocchi was even better. I have never had Gnocchi like that. It was so fresh and soft. It almost didn't need to be chewed, it almost felt liek ti would just melt in our mouths. I can't even describe it. It was light but dense at the same time. All I know is that I am pretty sure I'm never having Gnocchi in the states again because it will never be as good. I can't go back! Lisa had Gnocchi with a mushroom sauce. It was pretty incredible as well. My newest discovery were these deep fried stuffed olives. Olives stuffed with a meatball sort of thing, breaded and deep fried. Pretty amazing! After dinner, we wandered around checking out the vendors and music. I have to say, music is there was quite terrible. I enjoyed the old traditional stuff we saw, but the 40 eyar old Britney Spears wannabe and angsty teen band really didn't do it for me. But I did enjoy the people watching. Line dancing and everyone having a good time made for a good night. Here's a video of a guy I saw dancing throughout the festival. I was totally standing about 20 feet away from the person that made this video. It was so great.
Crazy tambourine man! Woot! Another not so crazy tambourine man. And then there was this 40 year old Britney Spears wannabe. I was not very impressed.

We ended the night with lots of silly dancing right outside of the house. It was great. I was starting to learn all the great Italian 80's songs. Having the house right there was awesome because we could run in and get water or use the bathroom without a line or any hassle! Dancing the night away with Hillary and Giovanni was a great way to end the night. I didn't get any video but I did find a video of the dance party that took place RIGHT outside the house! So hilarious. Yeah this is what we listened to till 4 a.m...

Day 16: Bottling

2011-09-29T23:46:00.000-07:00

I finally felt like I was coming around when we started bottling today. We harvested, we pressed, we analyzed, we moved wine, we bottled, labeled, boxed, and shipped the wine out! The only thing I felt like I was missing was pruning the vines and weeding! But there's always a chance I could come back in the spring for that... :)
It was an easier day than our other days, but the highlight for me was watching Corrado at work. He produces about 12,000 a year, and he actually sits there and bottles them himself! I cleaned the bottles, he bottled the wine, Lisa corked the bottles, and Hillary and Giovanni stored the bottles away. Here is a photo courtesy of Hillary of us working:We were definitely in a groove once Corrado brought out his ancient Mac computer. The thing had kid pix on it! I just had to take a photo.

Talk about adding the personal touch, he literally touches every bottle of his wine!

Day 15: Making Passito (dessert wine)

2011-09-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

One of the vineyards I haven't shared with you yet is Specia. Specia is a gorgeous small vineyard that Corrado rescued 4 years ago. I heard him talking about the soil and how it was basically "gold" for the vines, rich with nurtients, not dry and crumbling. I wish I had gotten a photo of him grabbing a handful of the soil and smelling it the first time we came to harvest. Here is a photo from the vineyard. The town you see on the top of the hill is Cupramontana, and you can actually see the cellar to the right when the picture is blown up. I've kind of pointed it out here for you:

On this day we harvested some grapes to make passito, a special sweet wine. Instead of pressing them right away, we layed them out to dry in baskets and hung the extra clumpy ones in the attic of the cellar. This made for some great photos. There is something beautiful about grapes drying in a line in an attic. After 3 months, the water will be evaporated and the only thing left will be the natural sugars, so whatever they press will be extra sweet.

For lunch we had lunch with some journalists that were in town for the wine festival. I had grilled pork here for the first time. It was pretty tasty!

That night for dinner, Lisa, Hillary and I made dinner for everyone. I made a pasta dish (garlic parmesean cream sauce with spinach, sundried tomatoes, spinach and basil). Hillary made a garden salad but I failed to take a photo of it. For dessert I made apple turnovers. With each course we had a different bottle of wine. It was so great. I forgot to take photos of the wine that. How lame am I? But everyone seemed to think everything was tasty so dinner was a great success!

Day 12: Colonnara Wine Tour

2011-09-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

So what we thought would be a work day turned into a great exploration day. Corrado dropped us off in the village to explore and have a second breakfast while he went to the cellar to do a little bit of work with Giovanni. We enjoyed the town...it was quite small so the exploration was short but still enjoyed. I love this photo. I captured it when I saw the man poking his head out to fix his door as we were walking around town.

Then it turns out Corrado got us a private wine tour of Colonnara, a cooperative regional winery. Meaning multiple farmers give their grapes and the winery produces wine under one name. Then the farmers get a portion of the profit based on the grapes that are used. Colonnara, it turns out, makes the best sparkling wine in the region. It recently one some type of award, I can't remember what it was but it was fairly significant. Anywho, the winery was beautiful. And large. Very much Chateau St. Michelle -esque. Everything was big and in large quanities. The highlight of the tour was the cellar where they kept the sparkling wine to let it age properly. Some of the bottles sit for 5 years before they are ready to sell. They also showed us a cool machine that froze the tips of the bottles, where the yeast is, so they can pop it out and top it off before bottling it.

It was very interesting and informative. Luigi, our guide, is from Cupramontana and spent some time studying in Finland. So he is fluent in Italian, and then when he speaks English is sounds very british. It was very entertaining. We ended the tour with a tasting. Which was a great way to wet our pallets for lunch!

Day 11: Randomness

2011-09-24T01:01:00.000-07:00

This week has been pretty uneventful. It rained Monday and Tuesday, so we couldn't harvest. Instead we were stuck inside labeling bottles...and labeling 500 million bottles can be very monotonous. I think Hillary got high from the rubbing alcohol from cleaning the bottles. So I spent many hours humming songs and playing some great music from home. It got me thinking about all of my friends at home and I started to miss them! I wish I could just package you all up and bring you here. For all my musician friends...there is a stage set up by the pool for the music festival that is held here every June...just sayin'...

We did get to go out one night in the village to get gelato and beers. I was so stoked. Oh how I have been craving a great microbrew...but turns out I ended up with a whiskey sour instead because none of the beers at the bar sounded appealing. The great thing about the gelato cafe's here is that they are also wine bars. So you get your gelato and alcohol of choice. But first we got gelato. Then we went for an adventure through the village. Giovanni showed us the house he was staying at (which is Daniela's but it's just her summer home). I should've taken more photos of the house but I was distracted. I tried my very first Grappa, which is a distilled liquor made from grapes. The house is beautiful and has a great view of the surrounding valleys and villages. We could hear band practice across the street (a group getting ready for the festival). I snuck over and peeked in. They were playing Al Green's "I love you baby"....which is one of my favorite songs...it was great. Then we went to a bar (The Fashion Cafe) where I couldn't find a good microbrew so i settled for a whiskey sour since they didn't have gingerale. The place was weird. Again I probably should've taken photos but I was just so confused I didn't even think about it. The upstairs has this funky club feel to eat. Purple walls, zebra photos, and barbershop/space chairs. There was another wall with some sort of pyschadellic indian mural. It was all rather confusing. And the music..the music was like instrumental karoke...and every other song was the complete opposite genre from the next. It was strange but we enjoyed some good conversation. Then Corrado met up with us and we had another drink back at the gelato shop. Here is a photo of grappe and Corrado's reflection. I also found some weird chips on display that I took photos of here: I'm sure what the second bag is advertising. It looks like a frat party or something...
Once the weather was suitable, we played the make up game and spent some long days harvesting. Above is a photo of freshly opened walnuts that Giovanni taught us how to harvest and open. By Friday, we (the girls) were spent. My allergies kicked in like crazy at a new vineyard we went to. I spent the next 6.5 hours sneezing and wanting to rip my nose off. Luckily we did not go for a second harvest that day. We came home early and I pretty much just went straight to sleep for a nap. We were all exhausted. All three of us were nodding off at the lunch table so maybe that's why Corrado had I us go home a little early.

Oh man the food here has been so amazing. The other day Valeria made a lovely pie pastry with fontina cheese and zuchinni! Drool...The other day, Corrado picked us up a treat that is unique to the area. It's basically a fig cake. Pressed figs with licorice and anice spices. I am not a fan of licorice so I didn't enjoy it as much but it was still very interesting! I love to try new foods...especially when they are unique to the area. Having 3 course meals twice a day has been a bit overwhelming. Last night I kept talking about how I would be happy with mac and cheese from the box and then Valeria ends up serving this amazing creamy shell pasta dish with peas and sausage. Followed with a pastry stuffed with gorgonzola, motzarella, and piccolio cheese. There is barely room for veggies!

So that's what I've been up to during the weekdays. More to come soon. Ciao!

Day 7: Catch up time

2011-09-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Adriatic Sea. Giovanni, Lisa, Hillary, and Corrado's family all went to the beach. It was great. HOT...relaxing...salty. We went to a beach in between Senigallia and Ancona. It sort of reminded me of Malibu or Venice Beach minus the douchebags. I mostly enjoyed spending time with Corrado's children, Julia and Giacomo. I really wanted to take photos of them because they are so precious and incredibly photogenic. Giacomo is a stud. Julia is just so sweet.
Daniela turns out left to go back to Milan and I was very sad to see her go, but here you can see her with the children. So precious. We did eat at a lovely beach side seafood restaurant so I grabbed some food photos for you foodies.
Penne with an Arabiata sauce.
The special for the day. Ravioli stuffed with some kind of fish. Tossed with clams.
Tortellini with Bolgense Sauce and sour cream.
Breaded and deep fried anchovies, shrimp, carrots, and zuchinni.
This is the best thing I've seen so far. A cozy for a wine bottle! Niiice. :)

After lunch we enjoyed some beach soccer, and I tried some harmonica tunage (Hillary snapped this photo of me falling asleep after playing), we all kind of passed out and took a nap. When I woke up it looked like a storm was a brewing so we got moving. But not before a gelato hunt! I finally got some tasty gelato in Senigallia. I will have to say that I do believe that D'Ambrosio's gelato is tastier than this one. Although it was still tasty nonetheless. I was a very happy camper!

Today we slept in, did laundry, and went to the cellar to do some bottling. We enjoyed a deliscous dinner of minestrone soup and homemade foaccacia bread and a homemade pastry dish filled with fontina cheese and zuchinni from the garden. It was AMAZING to say the least. The weather has been cooler and a bit spotty. We haven't been able to harvest because of the rain...but I am welcoming the cooler weather just got a moment.

Turns out that there is a big wine festival coming up in a couple weeks which I am really looking forward to. The village has been busy preparing for the festivities, working at night since everyone else works during the day. Apparently, this town that normally has around 10,000 people explodes to 25,000 during the 4 day festival. They village which is at the top of the hill is completely closed off and to get in you have to pay. Lucky for us, Daniela has a house in the village that she won't be using. So we're staying there and apparently not sleeping for four days. Valeria says the music goes until 4 a.m. and people are running around being crazy. Corrado told us that one year, one of the WWOOFers got drunk and lost and he found him at 5 a.m. stumbling around....haha....I am not sure what to expect of this but it certainly sounds entertaining! So look forward to that entry! I'm also looking forward to learning how to make homemade lasagna noodles from Helena. Also a very lovely elderly Italian woman who has been helping us harvest once in a while. Valeria has asked her to teach her and since I am interested in learning how to cook, that's where I will be as well!

Well I'm running out of some writing juices. I may get around to some bottle photos tomorrow. Also, just in case you're interested, I've been listening to this song all night. It just really fit the mood for tonight. Buona Notte!

Day 5: End of my first work week

2011-09-17T13:55:00.001-07:00

Well it's certainly been a busy week here. I've made some journal entries for myself to remind me of everything I am experiencing, but I'll sum it up for you here:

I've been starting my work days at 7 a.m. here. Each sunrise is just as breath taking as the last. As much as I love seeing the Olympic Mountains each morning back home in Seattle, Cupramontana has a unique beauty to it as well. This is the view from the cellar my first morning:
Turns out the cellar is about a 10ish minute drive away from the home. And the vinyards are spread out in different areas. Sometimes we harvest from the vines in front of the cellar, other times we harvest from vineyards further away.

I have been joined by two other WWOOFers, Hillary and Lisa. Hillary is straight out of high school and a pretty level headed chick. I am so amazed that she is able to experience something like this at such a young age. She is WWOOFing for the next 8 months all over Europe, and this was her first stop. Lisa is older although I only guessed barely in her thirties. I was so wrong. Let's say she looks crazy amazing for her age. She used to be a sommelier in New York and had experience selling wine from La Distesa. She orignally came in the spring to tend to the vineyards so now she is here to harvest. She is a free spirit a hard worker and very sweet.

We work with Corrado (who turns out I was so wrong he and Valeria are in their early 40's. They just look amazing for their age!), and his wingman, Giovanni, who I think is about 30. I love Giovanni's name. I can't stop saying it. Saying it out loud gives it a special ring. He might possibly be one of the hardest working men I have ever met. The man is non stop go go go. And on top of that, incredibly sweet and a complete gentleman. He speaks english pretty well and has a great sense of humor. Ironically he learned english while in Ireland and in school. I fully expect at this point my friends are thinking that I might runaway and marry this man and never come back. But don't be too silly you guys. :) Giovanni has a great winemaking background after studying it in college and working at other vinyards including one in Sicily. Oh Sicily...

We usually harvest twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. We usually take a 3-4 hour break in the afternoon because it is too hot to work. So what do we do? We go back to the house and swim and take naps of course! The pool has natural water and there is definitely something to be said for swimming in a pool on your lunch break surrounded by the valley. Here is a photo of Hillary in her usual nap spot:
Yeah...life is rough for us.

Corrado's mother, Daniela, is an amazing woman. She is very Italian and has been teaching me some great Italian. I am so much more motivated to learn Italian now so I can come back and speak more with the family. She learned English 50 years ago in Africa of all places. Turns out she has friends in Bellevue and was just here in the winter. She is quite the character and makes us an amazing home cooked lunch every day at the cellar. We've had so many types of pasta I've already lost track, but one thing in particular that she served that I loved was this tomatoes dish. It was halved roma tomatoes with olive oil and hard boiled eggs. It was pretty refreshing. We've also had risotto, pancetta, all sorts of goodies. Daniela said she would teach me how to make gnocchi sometime so I am really excited for that.

Here's a funny side story: After we got back from harvesting I was really craving some water. So when we got back Corrado's mother brought out a couple glasses and a plain wine bottle of what I THOUGHT was water. It was definitely wine. So imagine my surprise when I started chugging it. They really drink their wine like water here. That's all. :)

Harvesting is A LOT of work. I knew it would be, but holy cow. I have never sweated so much so many days in a row since drill practice in high school! We're constantly walking up and down rows and it is HOT out (it starts out in the upper 60's maybe low 70's and today we harvested int eh unusual heat because we were short some grapes and wanted to get the day over with. it had to be in the 90's). I am always burying myself in the shade of the vines while I'm working. On top of harvesting the grapes we immediately have to press them for the juice. And washing and tending to the other batches in the making. Our days are very full. By the time we finish our second shift it's practically dark and we only have time to shower, eat and tuck ourselves in for the night. Corrado has been an amazing host and teacher. The photos above show us pressing red grapes with our feet! He answers any questions I ask about wine making and has a great sense of humor. He really does fit the perfect stereotype of an Italian winemaker. When I get a good photos that emcompasses that, I'll post it. He is tall, thin, long brown curly Italian hair, wears these boots with his shirt tucked in a great fedora/sun hat. With his clippers, Lisa describes him as a prince. And he really does look like an Italian one haha. I love our lunch hours because we chat and joke and it's so great. Lisa actually speaks some Italian s so it's been really interesting and fun to watch them all interact. I LOVE listening to them speak Italian. It's such a beautiful language. I'm actually picking up a lot of things a lot more quickly than I thought. Just imagine how I would be if I was here for a few months more!

Speaking of which, each day I am here, the more I see myself being able to live out here. I love my home in Seattle because I love my friends and the life I've created for myself there...but there is something about living in the country in Italy that I am really loving. It's peaceful. I've never worked to actually create a product before and I'm beginning to understand how enriching it is to be able to build a product with your own hands. It's definitely fulfilling a great part of my life and I am enjoying every sweaty glorious moment of it. I have not started practicing my harmonica yet, but maybe when we go to the sea tomorrow on our first day off I'll give it a whirl. :)

Being out in the fields has given me a lot of time to think (when I'm not bugging Giovanni with questions about his life out here). It's been an amazing experience, I really can't express how happy I am out here. Working hard, making wine, enjoying the surrounding views. Everything I ever thought about Italians have been true with my experience so far. They value family, are incredibly hard workers, and love food and wine. They live to love - which has always been my motto. And to work hard and play hard. I am incredibly thankful that I have had this opportunity because my work is allowing me to be gone for so long. And even more so, thankful that my time off is paid time off because I've been saving it all for so long. I can't think of a better way to spend my time off than here.

But I'm off to bed now, so I can enjoy my first day off. Ciao!

Italy Adventure: Day 1 - Arrival

2011-09-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ciao from Italy! Right now I'm relaxing in my little bed listening to crickets and the occasional bell chimes in the distance. It's about 10ish p.m. My apartment has a view of the surrounding valleys and wineries, it's beyond beautiful. I really can't describe how amazing it is to be here (view from both of the windows above). Not sure what that brick building is but I went up the stairs and the top is a patio with a cool looking clay oven then. It's seperate from the house.

So 20 hours after my first take off from Sea-Tac...I made it. Barely. For some reason my last plane cancelled my reservation (pretty wonky considering I checked in 19 hours earlier...). So they weren't going to let me on but after a whole lot of angry Italians a frantic stewardess let me on. I felt pretty cool being shuttled to my small plane where I got to walk up the stairs into the plane. It was almost like my private jet. I can pretend anyway. The above picture is a plane view of Ancona, the coastal city I flew into (about 20 minutes from the winery).

My hosts, Corrado and Valeria, are a beautiful Italian couple I would guess in their late twenties or early thirties. They have two beautiful children, Jackeau (I know I totally butchered that, I'll figure the spelling out later, age 5) and Julia (age 2). I am pretty sure the only thing that seeing those children kind of makes me want to have children. Obviously not now, but 2 little kids with curly sandy blonde hair speaking Italian is seriously the CUTEST thing ever.

So Valeria was so sweet, she picked me up at the airport. We drove home into the sunset...pretty phenomonal. And we pulled into La Distesa. It is exactly how I imagined it would be. Straight out of Under the Tuscan Sun. This gorgeous quirky home is sort of set apart like a duplex. Corrado and Valeria live upstairs towards the back and the apartments for WWOOFers is up another set of stairs facing the entrance of the winery. We have a shared bathroom and kitchen to ourselves. Which by the way, the kitchen is the cutest thing on earth. It has a stone fireplace with a cast iron pot. It basically reminds me of what Cinderella lived in.Turns out this vineyard used to belong to Corrado's parents. He and Valeria moved out here 10 years ago to take care of the place and produce wine. They mostly produce white wine, and some olive groves. I just found out I will probably be able to help with the olive harvesting as well so I am really excited for that. I thought I would miss out on it because it's normally done during the winter months. But apparently it has been unusually warm this year. And Cupramontana, the town we are in is well known for the wines that are produced. I am so excited to learn more.

I learned there will be two more WWOOFers joining me tomorrow, both are also American. Valeria and Corrado speak great english, but I am really excited to start learning some Italian. The children are so precious, the little boy wants to learn English so I am sure we are going to have some good times coming up.

I had my first homemade Italian dinner. It was perfect. I also learned that apparently they eat their meals backwards from us. Sort of. We started with some simple spaghetti noodles with olive olive, peppers and garlic. Then had some sort of sauteed pork with an assortment of veggies which included some kind of mushroom that apparently grows in the wild that you can go forge. Might have to try that before I leave. Then came the salad and then came the dessert (which was a pie crust like thing with a fig like jam on top. We of course had some wine. I laughed with Corrado asked me if I liked wine. It was a delicious white wine that he produced. I'll have to get the name of it....Everything is in Italian so it's hard to remember. I didn't take photos because I didn't want to creep out my hosts right away. But hopefully soon!

I am having a wonderful time already. I can't imagine what is in store for me next!

Here we go...

2011-09-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving tomorrow for my first WWOOF adventure. I'm not really sure how I feel. I thought I would be a lot more excited than how I actually feel right now. I think it's because my life has just been so fantastically amazing I feel like I'm just coasting. A smaller part of me thinks something really bad might happen to me since everything has been going so well.

So bear with me foodies, I'll be using this blog as my travel blog as well just because I think the whole purpose of my trip is to learn how to make wine. So instead of starting a new blog, I'm just going to post things here. Not that I think anyone is really reading this and really cares THAT much.

Wish me luck!

Jack Daniel's Bread Pudding

2011-09-06T23:53:00.000-07:00

So the entry a lot of you have been waiting for...Jack Daniel's Bread Pudding. Everyone knows how much I love bread pudding.

This first appeared during my birthday week....amazing. We've obtained the secret recipe, and I added some of my own secrets. Personally I really liked my version because the sauce was not as liquid-y as the one from my birthday.

But here is the recipe:

- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups sourdough bread cut into 1 inch cubes

It's important to get really tough and crusty sourdough bread, so the final pudding isn't mushy or slimy.

Preheat oven to 325. Beat the eggs and add the butter, vanilla and milk.

Gradually add the sugar and mix until sugar is dissolved. The butter will lump up a bit when the cold milk hits it - don't worry about it. Place bread cubes in bottom of round baking dish. I save the bits with the most crust on them to use at the top for presentation. The crust gets golden and is more visually appealing. Pour liquid over bread , making sure all pieces are saturated. Bake in the oven for 50 or 60 minutes. It's supposed to serve about 8 people. Or if you eat like me, maybe only 4.

Whiskey sauce:
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 sticks butter
- 1 cup cream
- 1/2 cup Jack Daniels (I used a honey jack daniels which was AMAZING)

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat until mixture reaches a low, rolling boil for about 30 seconds, then take off the heat. When it cools, put it through a blender for a few seconds, so it won't separate (I did not do this so well but oh well).

This photo shows the bread pudding without the sauce. I forgot to take a picture when I put the sauce on. Got too hungry I guess. When I was ready to warm up the bread pudding again, I actually poured some of this sauce into the bread pudding and baked it in. Then I warmed up the sauce and stirred it together before serving it to people.

Pour a hearty amount over each serving. Or drink the sauce. Enjoy! If you try this let me know!

Introducing the Grilled Cheese Martini

2011-08-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

Birthday in Portland - Bite of Oregon

2011-08-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

So we've finally made it to the end of the week. My bestie Brandon came down for the Handful show the night before along with his charming friends from Bellingham. Brandon and I took the train down to Oregon to enjoy the scenic route. Turns out we met some great Canadians and had a ball. To sum the train ride down, an elderly woman stopped us as we were leaving the train and said, "Whatever it is that you are doing...rock on!" She later told us she was 83. AWESOME.

So the first night we just sort of hung out and wandered around. Here are some notable foods:
Macaroni and cheese with pesto! Got this at Paddy's. We sat in the patio on the street for some GREAT people watching. Didn't get any traditional irish food, but I am pretty sure this mac and cheese was amazing.
These onion rings though...were AMAZING. BEST ONION RINGS EVER. We stopped by Rialto's to shoot some pool and hang out and I smelled these when I walked in. I wanted some. You know how when you have onion rings and you bite into it, the onion part pulls out of the breading and it's all stringy and stuff? Well these onion rings were so well breaded, when you took a bite, the onion part actually stayed inside the breading. I'd be really interested to know how they did that. And by the way these were HUGE. The onion rings were basically the size of my palm. But they were SOOOOO AMAZING.
The next morning we had breakfast at Bijou Cafe. A moderate sized french breakfast place. They serve very strong mimosas, not sure if there was any orange juice at all. I got a french omlette with smoked cheese, bacon and green onions. It came with a baguette and greens. Of course everything was organic, and the place sort of lived up to the Portlandia stereotype. Our server reminded me of the one in this hilarious clip. In fact there were a few stereotypical things I observed in Portland. Including my friend Kai, who lives in Portland and came out with us. He was wearing a shirt with a bird on it. And the bird was designed with little birds on the inside. So hilarious. Again, if you want to see what I mean, watch this.

After breakfast we digested while exploring Powells for a couple hours. Love that place. Then we finally made it over to the Bite of Oregon. The following series of pictures are compliments of my friend Jordan, who basically was my food photographer for the day. Thanks Jordan!
First up, fresh salad rolls. Always a good idea.

So I lie. I totally forgot to tell you the first thing I actually got was a commemorative wine glass that came with a holder for your neck. that way you can eat with both hands! So genius. I loved it. (you can see it in the picture with the shrimp below and when I am holding my pie and ice cream)

Next up, mac and cheese. Which wasn't very good. It tasted like better quality noodles but with velveeta.
Then came the Kaluha Pork. This is quite possibly my favorite thing I got there. The pork was incredibly tender and juicy. It came with rice and macaroni salad.
I shared some of Christina's grilled shrimp with a tequila lime marinade. It was actually a little dissapointing. It was tasty but serve with a sweet chili sauce and I felt like it overpowered the shrimp. I couldn't really taste any lime or tequila on those things.
Then I took a break, but ran into our canadian friends who bought ribs to share so I had that, plus coleslaw and hush puppies...
Finally...I stopped with dessert. White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Ice Cream...and then I topped it with a miniature marionberry pie...definite major food coma/baby.
The whole gang with some wine. Brandon, Christina, Carrla, Alan, Me, and Jordan. Overall I found the Bite of Oregon extremely delightful. I've stopped going to the Bite of Seattle because I feel like you're limited to two foods there. Everything is huge portions and expensive. At Oregon's bite everything is smaller and I feel like I definitely got to taste quite a bit! The best part about the event is that the entire area is a beer garden. Meaning all you had to do was get a wristband showing you were of age and you could bring your drinks anywhere. Being limited to a space for beer gardens has always been frustrating. I find them rather boring. But in Oregon you can bring your drinks with you and explore the music and food!

One more before we bring this to a close. During our last day we stopped by the Saturday Market (even though it's open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). I got some phad see ew for brunch. :) It was a little dissapointing. Kind of dry and flavorless. Brandon had this amazing falafel though. Mmmm...

So all and all...successful trip. I would highly recommend going to the Bite of Oregon. :)

That brings my birthday week to a close....time to exercise everyday for the next month.

Birthday at The Sloop

2011-08-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Went to The Sloop, got me a sloopersize cider, and ate some food. Rachel made these AMAZING banana cupcakes with cinnamon honey frosting. I don't even like frosting and I ate it all! So thoughtful.

If you have never heard of The Sloop, let me give you a brief introduction. The Sloop, is a great Seattle dive bar, located on Market street right before you get to the Ballard Locks. There is no liquor (go to The Lockspot across the street if you want some of that). Just beer and wine. The Sloop is probably most famous for it's "Sloopersize" drinks. A 34 ounce serving of domestic beer for $4.50. It is $6.50 for a micro beer!. You betcha it's the best deal in town.

My other favorite part about The Sloop is that I can play Big Buck Hunter there! Yahoo! There are a variety of other arcade games including pinball and a couple pool tables for your entertainment. I have many fond memories of this place. Most of it spent laughing till tears come to my eyes as well as a random dance party. Just to note, no one dances at the sloop but Katie and I and Jaclyn if she's working!

This family owned business has been around for over 50 years. It epitomizes Ballard's marine culture. So if you haven't stopped by, do it. They have normal size beers as well if you don't think you can finish a Sloopersize one. :)

Birthday dinner - Matt's in the Market

2011-08-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

Ok ok, really this is the last time I will talk about Matt's this summer. :)

I am not much of a cake person so I wanted some bread pudding. Gathered a small group, my cousins, my coworkers, and my friend Pat, all whom have never been to Matt's before. I was pretty excited to share this experience with them.

By the way, found the pike place flag featuring the illustrated interpretation of me on our way there! I was pretty excited. Back story here.

I apologize in advance that I did not want to take the time to take nice photos of the food just because I wanted to enjoy myself, but here we go:

I ordered myself a fancy glass of wine (apparently it was worth $18). I wanted it because it had crushed rose petals in it. I can't even remember the name. How useless am I. Here is Pat being fancy and me laughing at him.
We started with the soft shell crab which was breaded and fried, served with fingerling potatoes. Whatever the sauce was, it definitely was amazing. It had a smokey spiciness to it.
I had the steak with bing cherries served on a grilled onion and fava beans. Medium rare of course. AMAZING.
Two of my cousins ordered the whole fish (Snapper), which was fried I think. And served with a seafood broth and mussels. It looks pretty intense.
Pat had the King Salmon, which just like the copper river salmon I had, was cooked to perfection. Pat did note that the Mint Jubilee he had was the best one he had ever had.

Of course then there was bread pudding. Which I did not take photos of because I've eaten it a million times now. We should note that there was Strawberry Shortcake on the dessert menu. Strawberry Shortcake is my absolute favorite, so I felt torn between that and the bread pudding. But Pat helped me out by ordering the Strawberry Shortcake so I could have Bread Pudding and we could share. Turns out the Strawberry Shortcake was not what we had envisioned at all and was a bit dissapointing. It tasted great, it was just not what we were expecting. We wanted light fluffy cake with fresh fruit. Instead it was a creative interpretation of Strawberry Shortcake. A biscuit with strawberry and lemon sorbet. Sprinkled with candied blackberries. Again, it tasted fine, it just wasn't what we wanted. But I was ok with that. Earlier today, my coworkers brought in strawberry shortcake for my birthday. :)

It was a good day. Thanks Matt's for treating us so well and for a very lovely birthday dinner.

Birthday Sailing + Dinner + The Noble Fir

2011-08-09T23:38:00.000-07:00

Two very special people in my life, Kevin and Jamie, have done more for me than I could ever say. They have enriched my soul, life, and general well being with their friendship in my life. Two avid sailors, Jamie and I had talked about going sailing for my birthday. It would only be the second time in my life, the first time I actually got up and did stuff out in the Puget Sound. It was a windy afternoon, but perfect sailing conditions. Little did I know that Jamie and Kevin surprised me with dinner on the boat!
Jamie made cocktails and appetizers on the boat for us! Smoked salmon and cream cheese on crackers with parsley. YUM!

It was too windy to make dinner on the boat while we were out...I later learned Jamie was planning on boiling water to make ravioli. So after we took a trip out, and I got some sailing experience, we came back in and Jamie and Kevin made me a wonderful ravioli dinner with pesto and tomatoes and grilled veggies! Yeah you should be jealous. I have AMAZING friends.
The finished product of dinner.

As is that wasn't amazing enough, they saved a piece of their wedding cake (they had just gotten back from their honeymoon the week before) and turned it into a birthday for me and sang me happy birthday!!

After all that, we grabbed a beer at one of my favorite places, The Noble Fir. Located in the heart of Ballard on Ballard Avenue, I frequent this place with my friends to have some tasty beers and plan our next backpacking trip. The place has a mini travel library with maps and ptravel books to plan your next trip. The owners Rick and Ellen are SO nice. They know everyone by name and always look so happy. The Noble Fir specializes in deliciously crafted beers and fine wines and also serves some share able food plates. We were happy to be there. I am so glad I know these people.

Seriously, hands down one of the nicest/thoughtful outings I've ever been on, if not the best. I really can't express how incredibly humbling it was to be treated so well. I love you guys. Thank you so much.

Birthday Bonfire

2011-08-08T23:52:00.000-07:00

What an incredible night. There was about 20 people in attendance. Laying in the sun, eating, talking, and playing music with my friends was more than amazing. I even went swimming in the Puget Sound. The only food related item I have to share is the legendary Jack Daniel's Bread Pudding you see above. My friend Jenn said her coworker has this secret recipe. We all shared this amazing bread pudding over a fire and jam session with some of my favorite people. Jenn later found the recipe for me, and I recreated this amazingness with my own additions. Check it out!

Random Foods

2011-08-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

Things that are not worth writing an entire entry solely dedicated to one item. First off:

What do you do when you go to a ballgame? Remember the 90's? Ahh..those were the days when I actually paid attention to the game. I love my Mariner's but lately ball games have been reduced to talking and eating food with my friends, and only paying attention if we're sitting in the foul zone. Normally my go-to items are Kettle Corn and Ivars clam chowder. But the other day, I discovered they have PULLED PORK NACHOS. MMMMMM...yeah it pretty much tastes as amazingly unhealthy as it looks. Pulled pork with BBQ sauce over chips with fake cheese sauce? Heck yes.

Next up: Bowl of Balls. Yup. That's what it said on the menu. This is a bowl of balls from Rory's in Edmonds. Located just off of Main Street a block up from the ferry terminal. Behold, meatballs in a creamy pesto with Parmesan. They were delish and I am definitely looking forward to recreating them. Maybe with some real meatballs. These ones kind of reminded me of the frozen ones from Costco.

This is what roasted duck looks like from Uwajimaya. I had a really bad craving for duck that day. That is all.

So my friend Ashley was house sitting for a couple with a rooftop deck in the Leschi neighborhood recently..if you're not familiar, it's basically ritzy. We decided we needed some catch up time so I made us a picnic dinner and we brought it to the house and ate on the roof watching the sun set looking out at Lake Washington. It was great. I wanted to note this event because I found this AMAZING picnic basket brand new at Goodwill for $10 a year ago and this was the first time I've ever used it. The silverware was still wrapped up in plastic! I have been waiting to take it out on some cute picnic date...That basically tells you how exciting my dating life is. My poor picnic basket went unused for a year! But I whipped up some bow tie pasta with a garlic basil rose sauce, veggies, and chicken. The wine in the house was old, so we kept with the sparking cider instead. Romantic indeed. :)

Birthday "BBQ" - Salmon spring rolls recipe

2011-08-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

So I celebrate my birthday for a week. Why? Because I have such a diverse group of friends, it's hard to get everybody out on one particular day of the year. That way people can just show up to whatever itinerary I set up. This year's agenda includes, BBQ, bonfire jam session, sailing, The Noble Fir, dinner at Matt's in the Market, The Sloop, Handful of Luvin' concert at The Tractor, and a trip to Portland for the Bite of Oregon. Yeah, it's going to be a rocking week.

It's really fun to watch my friends come together for this every year. Here's what we did today:

My lovely friend Jenn was generous enough to host a BBQ at her place for me. My tiny apartment just would not do for such an event. Turns out what is hilarious is that even though I called it a BBQ, I didn't actually BBQ anything.I did make some yummy Bruchetta though!

And of course, I made my salmon spring rolls. Sorry my presentation is so terrible. This is one of my most absolute favorite dishes my mom makes at home. It's relatively healthy, fresh, easy, and tasty! Below is the recipe.

Fresh Spring Rolls with Teriyaki Salmon

- One package of Rice Paper (there are about a million brands, my mom uses the one with the big red rose on the front because it's stronger and will help keep your wrap from breaking when you wrap it)
- One bag of vermicelli noodles
- One head of lettuce
- One cucumber (doesn't really matter what kind, I use English)
- 5-6 stalks of green onions
- 1/2 cup of any cooking oil
- One bunch of mint (I strongly suggest getting this at your local asian market because you can get a whole bag of this for about $2 versus the $5 or $6 you'd pay for a couple sprigs in an American store)
- Parsley (you can use it in the roll but I just like to use it for garnish)
- a fillet of king salmon (depending on how many people are eating determines how much I get)
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Crushed roasted peanuts
- Fried Onions (for those unfamiliar with the asian kind, it's similar to that Frenchies stuff you use on Green Bean Casserole for Thanksgiving, but thinner and tastier)

Dipping Sauce:
- 3/4 cup of hoisin sauce
- 1 cup of peanut butter
- your choice of broth or water works fine (for thinning the sauce)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

1. Boil water and cook the vermicelli. It only needs to boil for a couple minutes. Then take it off the heat and let stand for about 7 minutes. When you drain this, be sure to immediately run it with some cold water. This keeps the noodles from sticking from each other.
2. Place the salmon on foil on a cookie sheet and throw it in the oven.
3. Wash and tear the lettuce into medium size pieces (so you can wrap it).
4. Wash and cut the cucumber into julienne strips.
5. Wash and pick the leaves off the mint.
6. Wash and chop 3-4 stalks of green onions.
7. Wash and cut the rest of the green onions into 4-5 inch long pieces.
7. When the salmon is almost done (I usually bake a 2-3 lb. fillet for about 20-25 minutes), pour a couple cups (enough to cover) of Teriyaki sauce over the salmon. When you place it back in, set the oven to broil (low or high depends on your oven, but it's going to sit in there for about 5-10 minutes).
8. Saute the chopped green onions and oil in a small pan.
9. When the salmon is done, take it out, pour the green onion mixure on top. Then sprinkle the fried onions and roasted peanuts on top. My mom likes to use A LOT...so be generous.
10. Clear off a big table, get a big bowl of hot water and place it on your left. Cut a few dry rice paper pieces into fourths. Place on the left with your water and rest of the package. Then line up your veggies, noodles, herbs, and salmon.
11. Get to large plates. Dip a whole rice paper into the hot water. Only needs to be completely covered for a second. Shake off excess water and place on a plate. Then dip one 1/4 piece and place in the middle. Do the same for the next plate.
12. Now you are ready to wrap. You will notice the rice paper get tender pretty within a couple minutes. I just like having the second plate for the next roll so I don't have to wait.

Wrapping:
This is where most people fail. In fact, my mom still doesn't think I do it correctly. The trick is to not let your eyes determine how much food you want in your roll. You can make as many rolls as you want. Growing up I would eat 4-5, so don't try to make giant burrito size rolls.
1. Place a strip of cucumber horizontal (long way parallel to your body). Add some lettuce and mint. Grab a little bit of noodles and place on top (this helps weigh it down). Scoop up some salmon and place it on the noodles but more on the edge towards the center. Don't fill to the edges of the paper you want to leave a good inch or so on the left and right. Take a piece of the green onion and parsley and place it in the center horizontal, with a little bit sticking out.
2. Then take fold in the left and right sides and at the same time, take the side closest to you and start wrapping up. Its basically like folding a burrito. Be sure to keep the filling tight and close to you while you are folding up. Your hands will get a little a messy and it takes a bit of practice to get this right and to make sure its rolled tight enough so that the filling doesn't fall out when you bit into it.
3. Repeat till you've used up all your ingredients!

Sauce: Basically plop everything into a small sauce pan, and use the broth or water to thin the sauce. I usually start with teh peanut butter so it starts to melt out. Then add the hoisin and mix it. It will get thick and cook very quickly so be sure to have the broth handy. Then just pour a little bit at a time to mix into the sauce and think it out.

Then, dip and enjoy! It's pretty tasty! One of my favorite home dishes and have been a hit among my friends. Let me know if you try it, and if you have any questions or need tips on wrapping. I know its hard without pictures, but just imagine wrapping a burrito. This Youtube video does a nice job explaining it.

Feeding a touring band: Part 1

2011-08-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

You all should be very excited. I finally got a smart phone. You know what that means? a large amount of food pictures coming your way. Check it out!

Besides making and eating food, I spend a large amount of time attending music shows. I usually hover around 2-3 shows a week, and when it's a good week, 3-4. I've had the honor of getting to know one of my local favorites, Handful of Luvin' quite well over the past year, after accidentally discovering them last summer. I showed up to a show to watch Luc and the Lovingtons and ran into my old childhood friend, Pat, who turns out is the bass player for Handful. We just lost touch after high school, which is how things go...but I am so glad we reconnected because he has become a very special part of my life! We share the same love for food and have our "dinner dates" when he's not too busy being awesome. Basically we take each other out to our favorite local eats. It's pretty fun! So...through him, I've become good friends with the band. I absolutely love them. I'd like to rave about them, but I won't. You should check them out. Fiddle driven gypsy rock? You know you wanna....
So one day...I took a trip with the boys to a winery on the Olympic Peninsula called Olympic Cellars. It was a private event...but I'm pretty sure the only person who was really enjoying the music was me and the birthday lady. The next day we slowly made our way back to town. We thought we could get back before the next gig (on Mercer Island), but turned out we barely had time to grab food before the next show. We just headed straight there. David, the lead vocals and strummer, who turns out to be pretty health concious, was complaining that they never eat healthy while touring on the road. We joked about hiring me as their touring chef, but after the idea was planted into my head, I wouldn't let it go. What a perfect way for me to make a mass amount of food for some people that I love.

So the day before their next tour, I spent the afternoon packing/cooking some things I thought would be better than fast food and might keep along the way. It turned out to be pretty fun!First was the roasted chicken (yes I roasted it) salad. Roasted Chicken, cranberries, green onions, italian dressing, ranch, and freshly ground pepper. Turns out this was the biggest hit. I got some pita bread so they could make sandwiches. Pretty yummy!
Next was the pesto pasta salad. Corkscrew pasta, peppered salami, artichokes, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil. This was Pat's favorite. I made a vegetarian version for him since he couldn't eat the salami.
This garlic roasted quinoa salad with onions, bell peppers, and spinach was David's favorite. He really loved it. I'm not sure how it kept...I think I remember him telling me it might've gone bad before they could eat it all.
These oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip bars were meant to provide a healthy snack for the guys. Something that would stick to their ribs a little more than cookies would. I never tried one so I'm not sure how they turned out but when the pan was returned to me, it only had a few left.
Now my personal favorite...homemade apple turnovers. Now when you put all that food together, along with other tasty snacks, you get what you see above. That is what all the above mentioend food looks like together with Caprese Salad, hummus, chips, salsa, nectarines, bananas, apples, cinnamon almonds, and carrots. I asked my lovely friend Jamie if she wanted to make something for the boys as well since food is basically her love language. She made them her amazing yogurt coffee cake (which was probably the biggest hit) and tabouleh salad. Those boys were well feed that week. Well snacked at least. Personally, I would probably get tired of all that food before the week was over, most of them aren't really too picky. I just enjoy eating hot foods and tend to not eat left overs for more than a day.

The boys loved it, and I had SO much fun making the food. I've decided that I will make an effort to try new recipes for future road trip foods. So this will be the first entry as a stay at home tour chef. :)

It's official! - Italy here I come!

2011-07-31T09:05:00.001-07:00

Hello! So some exciting news...after a few e-mails and correspondence, I've been chosen and accepted a farm in Italy to stay and work at for just over 3 weeks. Behold, La Distesa, located not too far from the city of Ancona, an east coast city of Italy.

This place was a fit for me schedule wise (being gone in Sept. was more realistic than October as far as getting time off from work and grape harvest time goes), looks beautiful, and the person e-mailing me seemed to have a nice sense of humor. (Don't even get me started on the first response I received...basically the guy was "disgusted" that I would even consider making wine in the states and thought my photography would be "stealing the privacy" of hard working farmers...).

Here is the description:
Certified organic farm and agritourism which produces mainly wine and olive oil. There are 18 hectares with vineyard, olive grove, lucerne, vegetables and woodland. Help needed mainly in the vineyard (pruning, tying up vines and harvesting) and olive grove (harvesting). We eat together in the communal dining room, mainly using our own vegetables. Accommodation in own apartment, length of stay by arrangement. Children and pets welcome. English and Spanish spoken.

So I bought my ticket yesterday...and The countdown begins! 43 more days! I'll be away for just over 3 weeks...I'm really looking forward to learning about what goes into selecting grapes, cultivating them, and harvesting them first hand. I checked the blog that was linked to to the web site and at least according to Firefox's translation, the guy is a psychedelic winemaker. Pretty sure this is going to be AWESOME. Wish me luck!

*Photo above from La Distesa

Review: Mr. Gyro's

2011-07-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

This review comes ENTIRELY way too late. I keep thinking I will sit down and talk with the owners, but it seems every time I walk into this place, either I'm in a rush or there is a rush of customers.

But I love this place. Living a couple blocks away from the new Ballard location was a major perk when I moving. Not only is the food fresh, TASTY, fast and affordable - the brothers that own the place are SO NICE! They make you feel like you're the most important customer they have, and make a genuine effort to see how your day is going. No matter how busy they are always smiling.

Mr. Gyros is basically what it sounds like. A place with gyros. They also have several greek platters, salads, baklava, and other amazingness. The photo above is of the falafel plate, which I always get and i NEVER finish eating the pita bread even though it's tasty. Its about $8 or $9 and comes with salad, hummus, rice, falafel and pita bread! The original is located in Greenwood, which I was always a fan of. When I discovered one was opening up down the street from me I was stoked. My friend Jared happened to know one of the guys..I don't remember how, but we swung by one day while they were getting the place ready for the grand opening and offered our help. One guy was very surprised and thanked us but said they were almost ready.

The other month, my friend Nikki and I went to go try that Golden Beetle place everyone has been raving about just a little further away and my friend and I left wishing we had just eaten at Mr. Gyro's instead. In fact, we stopped by on the way home just to pick up some greek fries. lol. It wasn't that the Golden Beetle was bad...in fact it was very tasty. I just left feeling hungry! It was a bit pricey for a casual dinner and I just didn't feel totally satiated. You can read about our experience on Nikki's blog here.

Speaking of being satiated...a great perk for the Ballard Mr. Gyros is that it is open late on Friday nights! At first I couldn't for the life of me figure out which nights it was open late (till 2:30 a.m.). Because it seemed really random. But one day they placed a sign in the window. So now I know...screw the hot dog stand (but believe me I LOVE my Seattle hot dog stands), I'm getting something fresh and tasty at Mr. Gyros!

Anywho - go to Mr. Gyros. It's affordable delicious food with great customer service. What more could you want? I recommend the plates, but be sure to order some greek fries. The feta is so creamy!

Rating: ****
20th Avenue Northwest
Seattle, Washington 98107
(206) 782-7777

Next mission: Volunteering at a winery

2011-07-22T20:52:00.001-07:00

Sorry I've been failing lately with the entries...I have a few updates I wanted to make but I failed at taking pictures...and without the pictures I don't feel very motivated to write! I'm going to try to recreate some things I've had so when I do, I promise to take pictures and THEN write about them.

But in the meantime, as I'm sitting here on a beautiful summer evening (which I acknowledge should be having a bonfire or something...but I'm a bit burnt out this week), I decided I should write about my next mission.

I am dying to go on vacation abroad. The problem is that none of my friends can go with me for various reasons. Mostly nobody can get as much time off as I can, and when I am out, I want to be gone. I'm shooting for 3 weeks. Traveling alone doesn't sound as scary to me as most people, but I think I would get bored. I don't think I would have a hard time meeting people, but if I had to constantly meet people every day for 3 weeks I would probably get burnt out.

My friend Brandon and I started a conversation long ago about us running away to Italy to work on a farm. We heard that you could work for farms and get free room and board basically. But...being the responsible adults that we are...we just haven't done it. In my quest to find something to do abroad I revisted this idea. In the process I learned you can volunteer on these farms for two or more weeks! Soo...that's my mission. I've submitted a few applications to a few organizations. And the hope is that I can volunteer at a farm in Italy where I can learn about wine making and growing food! This reminds me of a time someone told me about their experience at farm camp. A place where culinary arts students spent a week learning how much work goes into producing food. It wasn't all wine and roses though. As much as cheese making sounds, they also had to learn how to kill pigs and what not. Scary.

I'm hoping I don't need to be skinning any animals. But I think that staying in a community of volunteer farmers in Italy sounds like a wonderful vacation. I definitely won't be bored then!

As I was researching this, I also discovered you can volunteer for wineries in Washington. Why I never thought of this idea in the first place I have no idea. We are so lucky to have so many great wines produced in this state. And Woodinville, the closest winery mecca to me, would be a great place to start. The above picture was taken at a wine tour of Chateau St. Michelle.

So wish me luck in my endevour, hopefully I can make some things happen!

Random Foods

2011-06-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

A compilation of food I've made/tried over the past couple weeks. But nothing worth writing a while entry about.

Random dinner at home. I didn't have any yakisoba noodles so I tried making a stir fry with angel hair pasta. Sounds weird but it actually wasn't too bad. The angel hair pasta was light and kind of just reminded me of a warm pasta salad. I just topped the noodles with smoked sausage, caramelized onions, green onions, and a sweet soy sauce. Oh and I made some corn with butter and green onions just because I had it laying around and it needed to be eaten!

This giant serving of bread pudding was definitely great to share. Found it at Paragon in Queen Anne. Jenn and Wes really like it. But I didn't. I mean it wasn't bad...it just wasn't Matt's...that place I swear has ruined bread pudding for me everywhere. I felt that the Paragon's bread pudding could use more sauce. It wasn't dry, I just wanted more caramel sauce. It was just a preference thing I suppose.

During a random impromptu road trip to Richland, WA - we stopped at Tagaris Winery. This is the vegetarian lasagna. In the background is the house red wine which was quite tasty. What was distinctive about this lasagna was the noodles. They were pretty thick and heavy - I wonder if they make them fresh there. The house Riesling was pretty exceptional. It tasted more like apple juice to me. :)

This prime rib dip sandwich from a place in Richland (sorry i can't remember the name) sounded great but was a bit disappointing. I couldn't tell if it was from the lack of sleep I got from the night before or laying in the sun all morning or the strange service we received (our server actually laughed when Rachel asked for coffee...not sure why) - but it was a strange overpriced experience. Sorry I am blanking on the name. When I figure it out I'll write again.

I'm feel rather blah so instead of rambling I'm just going to stop now.

Funny Pike Place story

2011-06-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

So my friend Margi works for this fancy advertising agency. One of their clients is Pike Place Market. One day she showed them this:

Then they asked me to be a model for Farm Days. I literally could not stop laughing when I heard this. Modeling is not my thing and I'm terrible at it. But I did it for Margi because I like her and it's not like it would cost me anything. Plus it did sound kind of neat.

So after our shoot, the illustrator made this:
I thought it looked pretty neat as a first sketch. And then here is the final version:
Apparently they went with a "subtle smile" instead and I am still all smiley in my eyes so hence why it actually doesn't look like me at all. But....if you're walking along Pike, you can see it hanging it up like this:

Yup yup...that's me...haha. I haven't seen it yet but hope to soon. It's a pretty funny story.

*EDIT* Found the flag!

*All images used in this post is copyrighted to Copacino + Fujikado LLC except for the first one of me with the pumpkin and the last one of the flag. My mom took that one. :)

Happy Birthday Dan Bugge! (owner of Matt's in the Market)

2011-06-20T23:37:00.000-07:00

I swear I’ll stop rambling about Matt’s in the Market soon… :) but this story just had to be shared. I am just going to go ahead and apologize in advance that there probably is more detail here than you need, but I really like to tell stories. :)

So, I recently shared my first blog entry about Matt’s via facebook, and they in turned shared it with all of their fans on facebook. I about peed my pants when I saw that. It was extremely exciting and flattering. Sometimes I feel like I’m writing to no one and I was very honored that Matt’s reposted my entry.

The mysterious person behind their facebook even followed up with me to see what I had for lunch and I shared my lunch entry with them. This time it was not reposted but I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be anyway. I figured at this point they probably think I’m am that crazy fan that won’t leave them alone.

But today, after a long day at work I came home to this:
I wish you could’ve seen my face. My jaw literally dropped and I was thinking, “Seriously?!?!” Again, I thought I would pee my pants with excitement. I couldn’t believe it. I felt extremely honored and humbled to even be invited to such a neat event. Meeting Dan would totally make my day, week, month, etc. I also felt like I was slightly intruding but then I thought well maybe he is a nice person and more like me where I think the more the merrier. I wasn’t sure what the format would be, and while I normally don’t mind wining and dining alone, I wanted to share the experience with someone. Jenn couldn’t make it, but I was really happy that I could bring a good friend of mine, Ashley, to dinner with me. A couple hours later, we were walking upstairs to Matt’s and there was a sign that said “Matt’s in the Market will be closed at 8 p.m. tonight for a private event”. I’m not going to lie, I felt oober cool to be going upstairs anyway because I was invited! Walking in was slightly awkward, since I knew nobody there would know who I was and probably wonder why I was there. Someone greeted us though and when I told them that I was invited he asked me for the “secret password”. Being the awkward person that I am I nervously responded with a “I don’t know…my name? I didn’t know there was a password?” He laughed and said, “There’s no password, just hang on a sec.” And then he showed us to the drinks area and said, “Help yourself to some drinks!”

And we did. The wine was of course fantastic (way better than 2 buck chuck!), although I can’t tell you what I had..something white, and something that looked delish. Ashley tried a few others. Meanwhile we tried to guess which one Dan was…we settled on this one guy because he was talking to everyone there, but I later found out he was Dan’s lawyer! Haha. Eventually the "headchetta" taco bar was ready. We grabbed a table and waited till most people got their food. I just felt like it would be rude of me not to let other people who actually know Dan to go first. While we were waiting, a woman named Chou chi (I am SO SORRY if I completely butchered your name) came to introduce herself to me. She was the face behind the Matt’s facebook person. Well one of them, according to her. I thanked her for inviting me to the dinner and she said “Well I figured you would really enjoy this. And this really was a last minute thing we put together.” She even thanked me for coming! I was like, “No way! Thank YOU for inviting me!” She pointed out Dan to me and urged me to get some tacos. Eventually we got up to get some. And what a beautiful spread it was. I’m pretty sure I could’ve eaten that entire bowl of guacamole. It was so fresh and zesty. Everything looked sooooo good! These photos aren’t the best but I didn’t want to be the creeper with the giant camera so I didn’t really try to get the settings quite right the first time. One day I’ll learn how to use my camera properly.The pork was just beyond incredible. Juicy and tender and every other splendid description. Braised pork shoulder, pork belly cochinta pibil style, and headchetta galore...I think there was some kind of fish..not sure what that was. But the tacos were amaziiiiing. Having tacos looking over Pike Place Market and watching the last bit of the sun go down with the ferries is quite the experience. What a beautiful place to have such a great restaurant.

I debated for a while when I should say Happy Birthday to Dan. He was busy with many people and I didn’t really want to interrupt him. Eventually he went to get a glass of wine and no one was around so I walked up to him to say hi. He turned and laughed because he said he was on his way over to say hi to me! So he came by and sat with Ashley and I and we just chit chatted it up. In a nutshell he told us his life story and it was such a great experience. I learned so much about him, if I was still a reporter, it would’ve made a great mini feature article. To me, dinner was GREAT. But what really made my night was the conversation we shared with Dan.

What an incredibly warm-hearted, easy going, and genuine person. Before our conversation I really liked Matt’s and would gladly recommend it to anyone. After our conversation, I LOVE Matt’s. Just knowing the person behind the scenes that genuinely loves his restaurant and more importantly, the people he serves is incredibly touching. And if you haven’t picked up on it, I am a big fan of character, quirks, and passion when it comes to restaurants (or anything in life for that matter). I believe each place should have a story to share and that the experience a diner has should add to their story and character. What’s funny is that prior to meeting Dan, I remembered seeing him running around greeting people at the door and helping his staff both times I had been to the restaurant. I think that itself says something about him. When the owner is working with his staff and on site and able to interact with everyone, I think that makes a major difference. I bet working for him would be a blast! No wonder everyone I’ve interacted with there is so great.

We talked about many things in the short time we spent with him. I felt like we could probably sit there and talk for hours over some great wine. I learned that Dan actually used to work at the fish throwing place just across the way from Matt’s for 10 years before he bought Matt’s. He said he always knew he wanted to own his own bar/restaurant and after having lunch every day at Matt’s, he bought it in 2006. “I felt like having lunch there every day was basically like a down payment.” Was one of my favorite quotes from him. My other favorite part of our conversation was when he talked about how much he loves to be a host and interact with people and be able to share the restaurant with them. The humbleness of his story when he bought Matt’s was really endearing as well. We talked about how he expanded the restaurant and how perfect the location was. The quintessential place for dining in Seattle. I couldn’t agree more. The fantastic food, service, atmosphere followed with being right above Pike Place Market and the view really is a unique experience. I believe he said when he took over and reopened the place, it just so happened to be the same day as his birthday and within a week of when the original Matt opened Matt’s in the Market.

In the end when we parted ways, Dan gave each of us a hug which I was really happy about because I am such a hugging person. I’m definitely one of those people who would be walking around with those “Free Hug” signs. What a stunning experience and great way to celebrate someone’s birthday. I decided that I am definitely going to have to plan on having dinner at Matt’s for one of my birthday events (I celebrate my birthday for a week with a series of events). Sorry Salumi’s! But I’m pretty sure the bread pudding is reason enough for me to come for my birthday…now if it wasn’t so far away….

So thank you Matt’s in the Market and Dan for sharing such a wonderful experience with me! I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed the food and everyone there. I wish I could repay the favor somehow, and I think I thought of a unique gift so I’ll definitely swing by with it sometime. I was still walking on air this morning after telling my coworkers what happened. It was a GREAT way to start off my week!

My First Copper River Salmon BBQ

2011-06-14T21:32:00.001-07:00

So after I heard copper river salmon was going for cheap (I read it was $6.99 at QFC), I really wanted to cook some up of my own. Right when that thought popped into my head, my friend Zachary told me he and his buddy were going to grill up some copper river salmon the next night. So what did I do? Invited myself along. Mostly because it would be an excuse to try to cook this delicious fish and I always love cooking with other people.

I looked up a few recipies and some marinades sounded pretty tasty, but I wanted to keep the marinade simple since the fish is already so flavorful. I tend to go for the sweeter salmon marinades, so I settled on this random recipe I found:

Copper river salmon and marinade
2 T soy sauce
2 T maple syrup
2 cloves minced garlic
2 T vegetable oil
3 salmon fillets, approximately 3/4″ thick; skin’s okay because it’ll come off during cooking.

Mix marinade. Place the salmon, meat side down, in the marinade and let sit for 30 minutes.

On a preheated grill, medium heat, cook the salmon meat side down for five minutes. (What you’re trying for is a seared top.)

Flip over and continue cooking until the inside is done to your liking.

So off to QFC we went, turns out it was the Sockeye Copper River Salmon that was $6.99 a pound. Well I wanted the King, which was a bit more...but we were splitting it with quite a few people so we just went with it and chose some simple cheap sides. 4.75 pounds and $90 later we had a fish.

The marinade was quick and easy to prepare. After 30 minutes I was ready to grill! We thought about slicing the fish up but we thought it would just be awesome to be able to grill the whole fish. However, once I got to the grill, I realized probably cutting the fish up would've been a good idea for grilling purposes. I wanted to sear the top, but I was afraid the fish would start to fall apart when I wanted to flip it. I'm not much of a griller (that's what men are for - but for some reason of the four fellas there, only Zach was helping me man the grill and he knew just about as much as I did). So I took the safe route and just cooked it skin side down. Screwing up a $90 fish for four guys I've never cooked for before sounded scary.

So off we went! The salmon was taking a while to cook (I don't think the grill was hot enough), but we thought slow cooking it would be a better choice than overcooking it.

Should've tried searing it but oh well. Enjoying the view of being surrounded by skyscrapers and the Space Needle was pretty fun - even if it was a typical late summer blustery June evening.

The salmon was definitely cooked thoroughly...and while I prefer it just slightly cooked on the inside...both Zach and I wanted to make sure that we didn't serve completely raw salmon. Anywho - it was good enough for the guys and I thought it was just ok. Well - it was good. I'm just not sure if it was $20/lb good. But then again, I'm not a chef so maybe I should learn how to cook first.

It was still a great experience and I'm looking forward to trying another recipe for this.

Lunch at Matt's in the Market!

2011-06-13T23:37:00.001-07:00

Dinner was so fabulous I had to come for lunch. Jenn and I are might start making this a monthly treat...although there are quite a few other places we would like to try. So after a crazy stressful work week, I was definitely looking forward to a Friday off. And what better way to start your Friday than with stuffing yourself silly at Matt's?

I am a huge mimosa fan...I find it pretty difficult to turn down a mimosa no matter what time of day. It was how I started every "morning" in New Orleans and the thought of sweet fruity bubbles always gets me excited. We sat at the bar and chatted with the bartender a bit and said they served two kinds of mimosas (an orange one and one with cranberry apple juice). Being that we felt you could get an orange mimosa anywhere we went for the latter. It was not as bubbly as I'm used to but yummy just the same.
We started with the chips and dip...basically homemade potato chips and a dip that is so delicious and creamy, it makes you want to not think about what is in it. The bartender told us anyway. Something along the lines of cream cheese, bacon, scallions, sour cream, parmesean, grana cheese (never heard of it but it was tasty in it!). But yeah fat city.

Jenn ordered the Ragda. Potato-grabonzo bean cakes, roasted egglant puree, papdum and cucumber yogurt. In non fancy terms: pan-friend falafels. The cakes had a really strong curry flavor to them. Personally I wasn't a huge fan of the strong flavor with the super soft texture. It reminded me of a reduced curry paste. However, Jenn loved it!

I ordered the Lamb Burger. It was topped with goat cheese, bacon, herb aioli, onion jam on brioche served with a garbanzo-sultana salad. The burger was great but not exceptional. However I think the shining item was the salad. It was light and fresh with a sweet vinegar mint taste. It almost reminded me of a very sweet less fishy vietnamese fish sauce but not as smelly. The fresh mint was a great touch and smelled great. I think that is what reminded me of the vietnamese thing.

At this point we ordered our second mimosa, this time we went for the "regular" orange one. Except this orange mimosa was nothing less than spectacular. Incredibly unique in taste and served with a slice of orange confit that was simmered in simple syrup for hours and hours. It was so tender you could just eat the rind. It was great.

And even after all that, I of course had to top it all off with the bread pudding. That bread pudding is seriously just the definition of "Food-gasm". Every bite is so incredible and I wanted to savor it but then I didn't want the salted caramel ice cream to melt!

As we were eating I noticed there was a large percentage of people that ordered the cobb salad. I wish I had known they were going to used deviled eggs because I would've probably got that! The special that day was beef tounge tacos which also looked heavenly...but once again - a great time at Matt's. The food was quite reasonably priced for fine dining lunch (Average $11-$14 an entree) so I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a nicer longer lunch. Like those things all those people in the private sector get to do for free. (ok - not ranting about working in public service) I'll need to take a break from this place for now though because there are so many other places to try!

Coming up next: My first copper river salmon bbq experience.

Copper River Salmon is CHEAP!

2011-06-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

Soooo remember how I made that comment about Copper River Salmon being cheap at Matt's in the Market? Well I read an article today that explains why. In a nutshell - apparently there is an overflow of salmon so far this season sooooo what used to be $20-$40 a pound is now selling for $5 a pound. No one knows if the cheap price will last for long so if you haven't tried any yet...now would be the time! I'm thinking of getting some and cooking something fabulous soon...

Morel Hunting - my first mushroom foraging adventure

2011-05-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

When I'm not in the kitchen or stuffing myself at my Mom's or some restaurant, I'm usually on a trail in the woods. I've been exceptionally lucky with the people who bring me on these grand adventures, and this past weekend we decided to combine my two favorite things: Outdoors and food.

The purpose of this weekend was to just get out, relax, do some great hiking, and hopefully finding some morels. Morels, I learned is a type of edible mushroom and May is a great time to go looking for them. Kevin said that they were specific the area we were planning on camping at (Teanaway River Valley) because the land there is drier. So our plan was to have good times and hopefully find some tasty mushrooms!

While we were heading up to a trailhead driving along a dirt road, Kevin somehow spotted a single morel mushroom on the side of the road. Not really sure how he did it, considering how small the little guy was, but we got out and decided to look. We found a couple more but not much.
Jess found one!
After a hike we stopped in a meadow to look for some more.
Most of us gave up and just took naps instead. :)

So we got back to camp and fried up what we had, which wasn't much..
But the morel was surprsingly pretty dense. It had sort of a meaty taste to it but had a great flavor to it. YUMMY!

And since we're on the topic of camp food, here's a photo of some veggies I prepped for this trip. Squash, onions, bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, and potatoes! we roasted them in tin foil in the fire. YUMMY!

Review: Matt's in the Market - COPPER RIVER SALMON!

2011-05-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry this entry comes over a week late. As most of you foodies know, Copper River Salmon is here!! For those of you who are unfamiliar or don't know what the great who-hah is about this amazing fish, I'll give you a quick run down.

What's the big deal about Copper River Salmon?
Copper River Salmon comes from the Copper River in Alaska. This river is almost 300 miles long, so the salmon that make this journey every year are usually pretty meaty and pretty fatty. Hence, they are the tastiest salmon - but the season to catch them is very small, usually only a few weeks (sometime in May to mid June).

So when I heard the great news a couple weeks ago, I texted a new friend of mine, Benjamin, who is a chef at the famous Matt's in the Market in Pike Place Market. I failed to ask him if the restaurant would be serving up a great copper river salmon dish, but had reservations the next day with a friend and was too excited. I have never been to Matt's in the Market, but have heard a lot about it, from various people. More notably, Matt's in the Market was featured on Food Network's Bobby Flay's Throwdown show for their Salmon Chowder. Chef Gerl of Matt's in the Market won the impromptu challenge. You can get the recipe and watch Chef Gerl make it himself online.

What I love most about Matt's is that it really is casual fine dining. Exceptionally equisette food but you're not required to wear a certain attire. Located in the heart of Pike Place Market, across from the golden pig and the flying fish, the upstairs restaurant features a small bar, a fair amount of seating, and my favorite part: an open kitchen. I love open kitchens for many reasons, which I won't get into now, but before we were even seated I was pleased. We arrived a little early so we chatted at the bar until our table was ready. Our server came by and told us the specials, and he only had to get out two words before I started squealing and clasping my hands with excitement: Copper River. I cut him off before he could even finish telling me what it came with, but I really didn't care what it came with. I was STOKED.

I started with the Baby Arugula and Dungeness Crab salad with mixed cirtus citronette, avocado, marcona almonds:

Then came the entrees:

Jenn had the Painted Hills Beef Tenderloin (8oz) with wild mushroom ragout, rapini, bluebird farms farroto.

I of course had the Copper River Salmon, and I can't rememebr what it came with, but believe me, it was heavenly. The salmon was PERFECT. crispy skin, buttery flaky meat. DROOL. Man I really want some again.

Jenn got the creme brulee for dessert. I am not a huge fan of creme brulee just because it's far too rich for me. With the exception of Mashiko's Jasmine Creme Brulee which is to DIE FOR (but that's another story).

I had the bread pudding. Also two words I immediately start squealing after I hear them. I love bread pudding. Love love love. I only recently discovered it a year or two ago. Now I can't stop myself from ordering it ANYTIME I see it on a menu. And THIS bread pudding, served with salted caramel ice cream, is unlike any I have ever had. While most people thinking of a fluffy mess turned goopy with sticky sweetness, Matt's bread pudding is incredible. The bread was not soggy or goopy, in fact it was soft with a slight crunch to it and incredibly buttery/creamy/amazingness. If you ever go to Matt's, please please PLEASE get the bread pudding.

The service was prompt, attentive, and not overbearing. We even chatted with our server about plenty of other foods we love. I'd like to go back and try their lunch menu...but we'll have to wait until I'm not poor. The salmon was $38, but for those who are not familiar, that is a fairly decent price for such a dish. Reservations are encouraged if you go, and if you do, tell me about your experience!

Rating: ***** (Everything about this place is fantastic)
94 Pike St # 32
Seattle, WA 98101-2066
(206) 467-7909

Red Velvet Cake - gourmet cake makin' with Nikki

2011-05-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Red Velvet Cake with Caramel Pastry Cream and Frangelico Ganache

So Nikki's roommate's birthday was coming up and she needed a secret kitchen to make a delicious cake! I made dinner while she made the yummy cake. I didn't really help except for making the Frangelico Ganache with was AMAZING...but this cake was pretty labor and time intensive. She used beets in the cake (probably for the red coloring traditionally) which I thought would be weird but was actually quite amazing. The cake came out more chocolately than red, but it was a great first attempt and it tasted AMAZING!

Tasting the Caramel Pastry Cream....yummy!

Cream went inside the cake...

A close up look at the tasty creation.

I didn't get a slice but from licking the bowl, spoons, and cake crumbs, it was GREAT. You can recreate this by following these recipes:

Red Velvet Cake with Beets
(yields one 9" round layer)

3/4 c. pureed beets
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. plain yogurt
1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 eggs
3/4 c. flour
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. dutch cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c lemon juice

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together all the dry ingredients and set aside. Blend the wet ingredients until uniform.
- Add the dry ingredients tot he wet mixture and stir until combined.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool before icing.

Caramel Pastry Cream
(makes about 2.5 cups)
6 oz. sugar (why they measure in ounces i have no idea)
1/4 cup water
2 cups milk
1 1/4 ounce of cornstarch (again, not sure what's up with the measurements)
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1/2 ounce unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine 5 oz. of the sugar and the water in a small, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, brush down the sides of the pan with water, and boil for 8 - 10 minutes, or until caramelized. The sugar will be fragrant and a deep amber color when it is caramelized. Remove the pan from the heat and dip the bottom into a an ice water bath for a second or two (Nikki did this for longer and the whole thing crystalized it was hilarious) Return the pan to a low heat and stir until smooth. Increase the heat to medium and heat to a simmer.

Meanwhile, whisk together the cornstarch and remaining sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the egg and yolks. Continue
whisking while adding the hot caramel mixture in a thin stream. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until it thickens and just comes to a boil. Immediately strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in the butter and vanilla. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate.

Frangelico Ganache

16 oz. high-quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
6 Tbsp. Frangelico hazelnut liqueur

In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream to a boil and immediately turn off heat. Add chocolate to the cream, stirring constantly until chcolate ganache is smooth. Add Frangelico liqueur and allow ganache to cool.

Hope you enjoy!

Foodie Phone Sex - The Ron and Don Show - MyNorthwest.com

2011-04-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

I used to work with Rachel Belle at Kiro...and this is just too hilarious not to share.

Foodie Phone Sex - The Ron and Don Show - MyNorthwest.com

Kombucha feature!

2011-04-11T17:57:00.000-07:00

Check out my friend's process of makin' kombucha! ooo and ahhh at her pretty pictures!
crab & bee: BUCH!

My first roasted chicken

2011-04-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

I have so much to share but very little time to write. I'm not sure how to resolve this. I'm learning new things, trying new things, and spending more than I should in my food budget. That's why I've decided that I am going to try to focus on cooking more frugally. I've discovered that since I live walking distance to a grocery store, getting groceries isn't much of a pain. I've also discovered that QFC's manager special items are a GREAT way to get some normally pricier items for a steal! Such as this awesome pre marinted porkloin for only $2.75! For the whole thing! It was going to expire in a couple days but that was fine with me because I cooked it up that night. Crazy amazing.

I was in the mood to roast a chicken (about 2 months ago...) so I roasted my first chicken (also 2 months ago).

I was inspired by my friend Nikki who made one for me. It seemed pretty simple and fairly fast. The whole chicken was only 99 cents a pound and it was organic! lol. I just prepared it the same way I prepare turkeys..just with different seasonings. I used make a thyme rosemary butter spread I stuffed under the skin and cut up some veggies and potatoes I had around the house and just seasoned those with salt and pepper. I think it baked for maybe an hour to an hour and a half? It was really easy to prepare and bake.

The chicken was great. The skin was nice and crispy and the meat was incredibly tender. I shared this with a friend, and was stoked there was so much more leftover! I used the chicken for salads, sanwhiches, quesadillas, it was great. :)

What Happened to Madame K's?!?!?!

2010-12-28T21:50:00.001-08:00

One day, I was walking along Ballard Avenue coming upon Madame K's Pizza Bistro. Normally, the wafting scents of garlic, bread, and cheezy goodness would always cause me to look over and smile at the lingerie draped chairs. My favorite part was the sign that hung on the front door that said, "NO CELL PHONES AT THE DINNER TABLE". Hallelujah! Sometimes, I would pause and peak in to see servers in sassy leggings and a multitude of feather boas hanging from a clothes rack, and think to myself: "Why haven't I been here yet?"

So one day, I stopped in with a couple friends, unknowing that I would be completely swept off my feet. The place, it turns out, was formally a brothel (hence the lingerie and feather boas) back in the day. The place had so much character and history to it, I instantly loved it before I even opened the menu. As soon as I started reading the menu, I knew I was in for a treat. I've learned that some of my favorite places have quirky menus, and they always end up being delicious. We ordered the "Choke Your Artie Dip", some chicken garlic pizza or some sort, and I ordered the Artichoke Lasagna...sensational wouldn't justify how much of an impact this lasagna had on me. I've never had anything like it before. They say that the "Big O" occurs when eating it, and I would say that would be a great justification for it.

So needless to say, I was instantly in love. Great service, great food, great character, great atmosphere. The place was PERFECT for me. It reminded me of a place that would be straight out of New Orleans. Small and quirky. I didn't feel like I was in Seattle anymore, I actually felt like I was transported to a different part of time and the country.

Back to my walk...one day when I was walking by, what smells I normally enjoyed, one day were not there. I turned to look at Madame K's and felt my jaw literally drop. It was empty. Nothing but a For Lease sign. I immediately searched for a "We've moved to..." sign but was sadly disappointed. Nothing. not a trace. Nothing was left but the burgundy walls.

I vowed to find out what happened to the place...and several months later, here I am. Turns out, because I was so busy trying to hang onto summer, I missed the announcement that my beloved Madame K's was closing Oct. 28, 2010.

I discovered Madame K's far too late in the game (September 2010). I was lucky enough to try their AMAZING Artichoke Lasagna, but unfortunately unlucky enough to have missed out of their famous Chocolate Orgasm. :( Check their amazing menu.

So WHY did Madame K's close? She sold it. Just flat out sold it. :( Why? Her "heart just wasn't in it"...She did make a comment about how the Ballard community had changed since she started the business 10 years ago. Even though I wasn't around 10 years ago, I would have to say I see her point. I've noticed in just the past year all my favorite stores in Ballard have closed down. Mr. Spot's Chai House and the blown glass workshop that was next to it to be more specific.

One slightly positive thing came of this entry though, I learned there is a Lazy K's pizzeria, where the owner is spending her energy. But it's all the way in Carnation...maybe one day I'll be able to try it. Although I think its western/cowboy themed...not as appealing.

Holiday Fun - On my own and with my mom!

2010-12-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

Well it's definitely that time of the year...I start to build my winter coat (somehow it came on early this year once I finished my half marathon and stopped major physical activity everyday).

I've been slacking in writing mostly because my camera has been out of commission so you'll have to forgive me for the not so great quality pictures in this post. But here we go!

I recently hosted my very first very own holiday party. This year has been particularly special to me, as I have moved out on my own for the very first time, and not dating anyone (which put a damper when I needed help with things like Christmas lights or carrying the 5 bags of groceries into my house). Most of my guy friends are either too far away now to hang out with me or unavailable for other reasons. My party was simple and small...although fitting 12 people into my 500 square foot apartment was interesting! But we all had a great time and even had a white elephant exchange.

Ironically, almost everyone ended up with a gift that related to their personality. I got an aphrodisiac cookbook called "Intercourses"....which will come in handy SOMEDAY when I have a boyfriend. :)

As far as the hor d'oeuvres, I decided to cheat a little. By using different pastry doughs, I created a few different dishes, just with different fillings. Above is smoked salmon wrapped with some whipped cream cheese, dill and thyme. I also made my signature shrimp bites on french bread. I also stuffed some crescent rolls with smoked salmon and cream cheese. There was also some stuffed crescent rolls with sauteed mushrooms, garlic, spinach, and onions. I also cut up some pastry sheets and rolled them with some feta and roasted walnuts. And of course there was a veggie platter with hummus and ranch. My friend made some chocolate cookies with peppermint kisses in the middle. I'm mad I didn't take a picture but I know one of my friends did...I'll upload it later when i get my hands on it. I baked some pastry shells and filled them with whip cream, and topped it with blueberries and raspberries and a mint to garnish for dessert as well. Over all these only took me a couple hours to make, and were relatively easy.

Everything but the pastry dough was homemade! Well and minus the hummus and veggies. :) I also made some mulled wine, (not pictured) and it turned out fantastic! I looked at a few recipies and decided to create my own. Some were pretty basic while others were pretty complex. Last year my roomate made the mulled wine so I have no idea what she put in it. But essentially my recipie was as follows:

Merry Mulled Wine (serves up to 10)
- 5 bottles of 2 Buck Chuck (Cabernet Sauvignon)
- A few sprigs of rosemary (3-4 stems about 4-5 inches long)
- 10-12 cloves
- 7 cinnamon sticks
- 4 oranges (freshly squeezed for juice)
- 3 medium apples sliced (anything but Fuji and Granny Smith works - I can't remember what I used)
- 1 cup of honey

And all I did was heat up the honey in a big pot so it became less viscous and started adding the wine and seasonings and fruit. I heated it up for about an hour and a half before i served it. It was pretty tasty! Orange zest would make a nice garnish but since I had too many things going on. I had to make sure everyone got their holiday mugs and party favors! :)

Overall I thought it was a success. And then I went home and that's where my mom showed me what real cookin' is all about. With my help of course.

My mom worked on the roast beef and I prepared scalloped potatoes with a bechamel sauce and raisins.

And 3 hours later....we were feasting!!

Rib eye Roast anyone?

The potatoe medley with rasins and a bechamel sauce.

This salmon dish is SOO delish. It combines the best sweet and tart levels...I'm not sure whats in it...we baked the salmon with some teriyaki sauce and then my mom sauteed some asian greens/chives of some sorts and a mushroom sauce and spritzed it with lime juice. I can't really describe the taste. Except that it is delish. Maybe I'll write about it sometime.

My mom was on a mushroom kick...here's another side dish with some friendly fungi with mini onions.

And of course some sauteed garlic green beans/snow peas and almonds.

The end result:

Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm baaaaccckkkk...sorta

2010-11-27T14:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been on hiatus...I have many things to write about...my problem is that once the weather got nice here I spent all my time outdoors and I've had one crazy summer. Now that it's winter I'm finding myself stuck indoors. Soo...look forward to more entries to come this week...I'll have to think about what I want to write about next...but I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive!

Roomie Tasty Triumph - Real Thai Lesson

2010-05-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Since I've been transitioning between job duties and began volunteering, I haven't been cooking much. I've become dependent on snacks, but luckily my roommate Meghan has been on a Rachel Ray craze. She bought one of her cookbooks and has been cooking up a storm...I really should start documenting her adventures. It's been exciting, to taste all the treats like Chipotle Mac and Cheese or Spicy Shrimp Tacos...mmm...This entry is from an old dinner gathering (probably from January) but I kept forgetting to write about it, so here we go!

Sophia and her then boyfriend Ryan spent the past couple of months backpacking, climbing, and running like crazy. Super athletes to the max (Sophia actually does a workout called the "300" because it's the workout all those guys did for that crazy movie), these adventurers were lucky enough to spend some time at a cooking school in Thailand. So they came over to cook us a TASTY meal.

First, crushing the peppers and lemongrass to create a homemade curry paste (watch out for the fish paste...it's not the most pleasant smell). I got tired of smashing, so I let Troy take over for a while.

The food was smelling mighty tasty!!

Pretty soon the food was ready. What was really interesting is that Ryan made two batches. One he forgot to put sugar into and the second he did. It was amazing how much the sugar changed the taste of the curry. It tasted wonderfully without, but WITH the sugar, it was like all the flavors came together...it was amazing!

It tastes AMAZING. So try the recipe above!

Southern Comfort Reviews: Casper's, Smokin' Pete's BBQ, and Speak EZ's

2010-05-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

I love southern food what can I say? After New Orleans, I'm completely addicted to everything related to it. (Which as a side note, heard a great song down at the Farmer's Market today called "Freedom Song", which apparently was written by an artist with several children after Hurricane Katrina. You should listen to it, if you get a chance, it's touching. The band was also a great group of people that made my afternoon) Any way, I'm still determined to find the best southern food in Seattle. So far...no luck. Let's start with the worst and end on a good note.

Casper's in Shoreline
My coworkers and I are always excited anytime a new restaurant opens up near our building in Shoreline, because good food is hard to find within close range there. Casper's moved into our neighborhood from Lake City Way, to replace a Wendy's. It was a rather interesting set up. Having southern food at a fast food restaurant didn't quite feel right, but I must say, the toilet plungers on the counter tops to hold up paper towel rolls, made me smile. That kind of quark is part of why I love New Orleans so much. Our waitress told us the restaurant moved from Lake City because no one could find the restaurant because it was so small and out of the way. Expansion seemed like a good sign as well. I was pretty excited to be put into a food coma, because we all know that's what southern food does to us. I ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich, Mac and Cheese and Coleslaw. But of course I had to have some cornbread so I asked if they served honey butter with their cornbread. Our server replied with a very enthusiastic southern drawl, "OH you betcha we got honey butter. You know what's good for ya!" Ecstatic for my honey butter and spicy cornbread muffin, we waited. And waited. And waited....to wait to put our order in.

Now, I understand sometimes things slip. This would be one of those times. I watched our server carefully and she was quite attentive to everyone else in the restaurant, seating them, taking their orders, serving their orders, cleaning up, she was on top of it...except with our table. I think she just forgot about us (walked by us quite a few times without even looking in our direction so we could signal to her that we were ready to order). She apologized when she realized she had forgotten about us...a good 20 minutes later. A good 20 - 30 more minutes later, our food was ready. Now, I'm pretty sure this restaurant also serves at the drive through window...so I'm not sure if there were just 100 other orders at the drive through window that got in before us...but I'm pretty sure that was just plain ridiculous.

When our food finally arrived, I was terribly disappointed with what our server referred to as honey butter: two COLD individual tablets of butter with little packets of honey (like...the stuff you get at KFC). That in itself did not make me very happy. On top of that, the cornbread muffin was COMPLETELY overcooked and dried out...it was dry and mealy in a very uncomfortable way. It would've taken 4 or 5 tablets of butter to soften that thing up. So then I moved on to my next favorite side: Mac and Cheese. I was utterly beyond disappointed and slightly disgusted to be honest. While the penne noodles looked intriguing, the mac and cheese would be what I refer to as on par with frozen mac and cheese or Safeway Deli Mac and Cheese. Actually I would say frozen Mac and Cheese was better than that. It was DEFINITELY not southern mac and cheese. So then on to the Coleslaw...that was at least decent. But then again, it's a little hard to screw up Coleslaw. The Pulled Pork however, was FANTASTIC. While I'm not sure about the BBQ sauce (a bit too vinegary for my taste), the pork was tender and the portion was great. It was flavorful even without the BBQ sauce. I enjoyed it very much. :)

But in the end, I'm afraid I can't give Casper's a high rating at all because most of the food I tried was not tasty in my opinion, the service wasn't the greatest, and it just didn't encompass southern comfort. Actually halfway through our meal we noticed the owner Casper himself was sitting just a couple tables away having lunch with a friend. What surprised me was how he paid no attention to the fact that our table of four had been completely ignored for almost 1/2 an hour. I would just hope that in the future, we could luck out on better service. I'd be willing to go back and try other items though. Because every restaurant deserves a second chance.

Raiting: ** (I feel that might be generous based on my experience)
15226 Aurora Avenue
(In the parking lot with Safeway)
Shoreline, WA 98133
(206) 361-3757

Smokin's Pete's BBQ
After much hype, I was interested in trying Smokin' Pete's BBQ, which is located in Ballard. I'm hoping that one day I find a southern restaurant that will just let me have as many sides as I want. My problem is that everywhere I go, I always want more sides then I am allowed with my meal and I end up paying far too much for my additional sides and of course getting way too ridiculously full. This was my first problem with Smokin' Pete's. I probably spent a good 85% of my time with the menu just trying to figure out how I can get the most sides for the least amount of money. :) I just wanted a taste of everything!

Service is easy at Smokin' Pete's you walk up and order your food and then sit down. The food comes right to you. I ended up with the Pulled Pork Sandwich and a side of Coleslaw. And then I paid for an additional Mac and Cheese, because frankly, I just can't pass up Mac and Cheese anywhere I go. One feature I found very distinctive to Smokin' Pete's is their Sweet Potato Cornbread Muffin. While I was disappointed their honey butter was not quite the honey butter I envisioned (in next review you will see why I am so adamant about this honey butter), it was at least moist and tasty. The Mac and Cheese was Superb and the Coleslaw wasn't anything extraordinary but it was good. The pulled pork had a wonderful smokey flavor, however I did not have anything to rave about after. I think the place might have been hyped up a bit too much for me. The food is great, the portions are insanely large, and overall a great place, I just wasn't completely wowed in any particular way.

Rating: ***.5 (Because it was far better than Casper's but I would not say better than Toulouse Petite)
1918 Northwest 65th Street
Seattle, WA 98117
(206) 783-0454

Speak E-Z's

This review comes far too late...but it still deserves to be written. Speak E-Z's, which is located in Bellingham, WA is actually the place that introduced me to REAL fried chicken. I never thought I would find tasty southern food in Bellingham, but here it is. While some of the items are hit and miss...Speak E-Z's has always had a special place in my heart. It recently had to shut down a few weeks ago because it just wasn't doing that well, which breaks my heart. Especially after getting to know the owners, Rosie and Dennis. They are quite the most unlikely couple, but together they are fantastic. Rosie, short and petite German woman, with curly locks and the cutest accent. Dennis, a tall commanding African American man from Memphis, Tennesee with a jolly smile and personality to match. Together they ran the show: Dennis cooks and Rosie helps serve.

A colorful interior with musical instruments and records decorating the wall, the restaurant definitely has a mom and pop kind of feel to it. I adore it.

My all time favorite meal here is the Fried Chicken, which is just plain fantastic. However, this particular day they were not serving it on their lunch menu. But I never knew how AMAZING fried chicken could be. Haven't been to KFC since. The star menu item for this resturant in my opinion is actually the Jalapeno Cornbread and Honey Butter. AH - I just drool thinking about it. Words can't express how delicious this cornbread is, and the honey butter is homemade. Butter that is actually whipped together with honey! Imagine that...mmm it is to die for. When I would come when my friend Ashley was working, I would always ask for seconds of the cornbread. Just *drool* amazing. Here's a glance at what we had for lunch this day:
I can't remember what this was to be honest (It's from January!) I think it was the braised pork sandwich.

Seafood Gumbo (Sorry I forgot to take a picture when there was actually some soup in there) + Jalapeno Cornbread.

Ashley's favorite- the Pulled Pork Sandwich.

I used to tell people to stop by Speak EZ's...but now that it's gone..all I can say is that it will be sorely missed. :(

Rating: ***.5 (While it wins for personality, comfort, and taste, I didn't find every menu item a hit)
It used to be here!
2400 Meridian Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
(360) 714-0606

Let 'em Eat Cake!

2010-03-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

Recently, a new acquaintance of mine celebrated his 25th birthday. We kicked off the celebration with a pre-season Sounders game which was nothing less than crazy spectacular fun (even though we lost)! The next day I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the evening and I decided I wanted to bake a cake and surprise my new friend Andy with it.

The reason why I got so excited is because I have a bit of a history with making fantastic cakes (with the help of some fantastic friends)...so the best ones made with love turn out the greatest. I decided to share these cakes with you because they really are quite fun. Ever seen Ace of Cakes? Well these cakes are QUITE at that level, but they are ALL edible and made with lots of love. :)

The first of these cakes was created for my friend Teego. My friend Maddy and I put together this guitar shaped cake and frosted using eight 9-inch pans of funfetti cake and lots and lots of frosting (we layed the cake out over an unfolded pizza box line with foil). We even used Hershey Kiss's as the "tuning pegs" for the guitar. Teego was moving away from our beloved Bellingham crew so we wanted to wish him well on his journey. It took quite a while to get the frost colors right but we did it!

The next cake is my first home made ice cream cake. Taking some of the knowledge I have after working at Baskin Robbins (my first job in high school), I decided to attempt to make this ice cream cake for Maddy for her birthday. I scooped and packed enough ice cream into a 9-inch pan inched with parchment paper and froze it. Then I baked a single 9 inch cake. After letting it cool and even freezing it for a bit, I put it together with the ice cream after unwrapping the parchment paper. I melted some vanilla ice cream and put it back into the freeze just so it would be thick enough to mold and spread around the cake. In case you ever wondered, that is pretty much what is on those Baskin Robbin's cake. It's called "deco-cake" but it's pretty much just melted vanilla ice cream. At least that's what it tastes like to me. So after I frosted the cake and froze it again, it was ready for some decorating. Since I didn't have an industrial awesome freezer, this didn't turn out totally right, but it was a great first attempt. :)

Pretty soon it was Maddy's turn to move away from Bellingham, and for one of my classes I decided to bring Maddy to "Show and Tell" for "Friendship Day". Part of my interpersonal communications class was to bring a friend who has made a significant impact on your life, share your interpersonal communication style and what you've learned and give them a gift. Most of these gifts ended up being inside jokes for most people...mine..was a pineapple. Maddy knew exactly what that meant and immediately started bawling her eyes out. It was sad and hilariously funny at the same time. But any way, for Friendship day, which was also a potluck, we contributed this Friendship Cake for the class to munch on. Too bad no one ate it because they thought it was too pretty!

After Maddy moved away I took a long break from making cakes...but the need soon nagged at me. When Drew's 21st birthday came around, I decided to make him a special cake. I was especially motivated after I especially failed making a cake for his then roommate Andrew. Andrew is a singer and I wanted to make him a cake in the shape of a musical signature surrounded by notes...but failed. I ended up buying him pie to make up for the loss...but he must have found a place to forgive me at some point because we ended up dating later on and made this beautiful Pikachu cake for Drew. Drew and Andrew were (I'm not sure if they still are) avid Super Smash Brother players. These guys could kick some serious ass at this game. Smashing buttons doesn't work here. But any who - Andrew and I made this cake for Drew in recognition of his smash skills. :) This cake took up a whole cutting board that we took out of the kitchen and wrapped in foil.

I also attempted my first cheesecake later that summer. Now, I am not a cheesecake fan - I find them too rich for my taste, but this recipe I found...MMMM....so delectable. I doubled the cookie crust amount and it cake out incredible. I highly recommend this White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake to anyone. This was my first attempt and has since then won me 2nd place in a bake off! (Which should've been 1st place...but 1st place went to the cake that had a WSDOT logo on it...if I had remembered it was for a work bake-off, I would've swirled the raspberry syrup into a DOT logo and won!)

While this isn't my best cake, it was still made with love for a special co-worker of mine at the time. I'm not sure what to call it but Courtney's cake!

So this brings us to the current cake. This one comes with a disclaimer because it's not my best work and not everyone "gets it". I do also have to say that I am not a fan of what this cake represents. In fact - I can't stand the game. It's a long story. But any way - Andy and his brother James LOVE beer pong. So...I decided to make them a beer pong cake (which seemed fitting since they were having a beer pong tournament to celebrate their two birthdays. It didn't really turn out how I envisioned...but....it worked for being an impromptu cake.

I think the best part was the little mini Coors Light and PBR bottles I tried to create. The were cut off muffins with wine corks stuck in them to give them a neck. haha. Even the ping pong ball was edible! The "cups" were just muffins with the tops cut off and addition cake on top to give it sort of a cup shape...but everything sort of ended up being stout and miniature...plus my frosting handwriting was wayyyy off that day. Not sure what happened. I think the frosting was too soft.

Either way - these cakes were too much fun to make. The key trick is to just let the cakes cool long enough before you start cutting and frosting them! I hope this inspires you to make some fantastic cakes for your friends!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2010-03-18T18:51:00.001-07:00

Oh Ireland...how I miss you...

Hands down, I could move to Ireland in a heart beat. At the last minute I decided to put together an Irish meal for a few friends...some bailed so there was quite a bit left over...but mmm so good.

First off - I had Beef and Guinness Stew EVERYWHERE in Ireland, I ordered it any place I got a chance to. The above picture is the first I had of it at fantastic pub in Doolin. Next to it is Deep Fried Brie..if you've never had it...I can't even begin to describe how incredble it is..I could probably eat that by the pound...mmm....(View a few pics of the places I went and the food I ate there here)

I got the recipe for tonight's dish off of Food Network. It seems relatively easy enough. I did all my food prepping the night before since I only had a couple hours before dinner once I got off work and needed every minute of it!

After reading the recipe it sounded like it would be incredibly thick, and I just didn't think there would be quite enough Guinness. I also thought it was odd there was no beef broth. So I modified it by adding beef broth, potatoes, and more Guinness. I'm glad I did. It came out perfect. Extra hearty.

In addition to this delicious stew, I made Corned Beef and Cabbage...I browsed a few recipes and then sort of put some together. I bought uncured cook Corned Beef Brisket from Trader Joe's because they were sampling it and it was great. Seemed easy enough. I prepared it with a head of cabbage, applewood smoked bacon (HIGHLY recommended),potatoes, carrots, celery, all purpose seasoning, a little bit of beef broth. Mmmm it was delightful. I've never had corned beef and cabbage but my friends who have said it was very tasty. So that's good.

Last but not least. Beer Bread. A simple mix from Trader Joe's (that they also sampled...) that you just mix with any 12 oz. beer. I first made this for Ben in addition to the homemade chicken noodle soup one day. And I've discovered it tastes much better with a stronger beer. The don't remember what I used the first time but it was a dark beer. This time, I used a Belgian beer (it was all I had until everyone came over with Irish stouts...). Either way - this bread is DELICIOUS! It is incredibly hearty - dense and is crispy flaky on the outside (due to lots of butter you pour on the out side when you make it.

And voila, and Irish meal (I wasn't sure how many people were coming or that I could afford to feed, so I kept this simple). I'd like to try Shepard's Pie sometime...I've heard so much about it but have never eaten it. Sounds tasty.

After dinner we jetted over to Kell's, which is a great secluded Irish pub in Downtown Seattle in an Alley by Pike Place Market. I had never been before, but for a first time visit - I was very pleased. The place was packed (well for a $20 cover - I expect it to be great). Everyone got a free t-shirt - apparently Kell's throws a week long celebration, so I'm glad I was able to experience the heart of it. I was very excited to have some Magner's Irish Cider. Not as great as Bulmer's, but I have yet to find that in the states...I miss it so much. The night quickly evaporated into hours of crazy Irish jigs with a live irish band that was actually from Ireland. Real accents and all. Eamon Maguire, is apparently a famous drum maker in Ireland. I befriended him last night when he tried to set me up with his nephew who was also in the trad group. They were really quite fantastic. It really made me miss Ireland...one day..I'll be back.

Until then - I guess I'll just keep going to Kell's.

Tasty triumphs (and half a food fiasco) for weeknight dinners

2010-03-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while...I apologize. But here we go!

I've been on a health food binge lately since I'm training for a half marathon and tryin got make a couple lifestyle changes. This healthy version of a soft taco was really simple, and tasty. I don't believe in coounting calories so if you're already looking for that, just stop. But here are the ingredients (which were all from Trader Joe's by the way)! Try to imagine this folded up (sort of hard to fold it up and take a picture at the same time).

- Corn and Chile Tomato-less salsa

- Whole wheat flatbread (I thought it would be a healthier choice than a flour tortilla)

- Avocado and lettuce

- Ground Turkey sauteed with onions, mushrooms, and taco seasoning (A much better alternative to ground beef)

- No cheese, because I wanted to see what it would be like without it. Normally I would say I always need cheese, but I think the avocado and chile salsa made up for it. It was delish.

Then of course, because I had been eating so well, I ruined it by making a crazy awesome vegetarian lasagna.

Layer one: A tomato basil marinara and spinach
Layer two: I used a homemade cream sauce with sundried tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms
Layer three: The marinara with zucchini, ricotta and carrots
Layer four: More marinara and mushrooms
Topping: A spicy Arrabiatta marinara sauce topped with fontina, asiago, parmesan, provolone and mozzarella cheese (and some basil and oregeno)

Eaten with cream cheese garlic cheese bread...it's a good thing I've been running.

I had some crazy times at work and the day all the stress went away I wanted to make something awesome to celebrate.

I wanted to do a teriyaki salmon, but salmon was too expensive. Then I was going to do chicken, but then I noticed the steak was on sale. So that's what I bought instead. And then I just sort of threw together what I thought would sound good. I marinated the steak cubes with some oil, rice vinegar and black pepper. Then I sauteed some onions and mushrooms. Heated up some honey, mixed it with some soy sauce and sugar, and threw in the steak and cooked it all up. What went wrong was that the steak overcooked and ended up being too tough, and I think some pineapple would've been really good. I threw in some green onions which were definitely a good choice. Sesame seeds probably would've been good too. But oh well. Not bad for a cheap meal - and a good learning experience.

My favorite part was the chicken rice. Which is my mom's recipe. I cooked regular white rice with chicken broth instead of water and tossed in some deep fried onion bits when it was ready. Mmmm it smells fantastic and I highly recommend it. Usually really good with other chicken dishes.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi & Kung Hei Fat Choi!

2010-02-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

That is to say...Happy New Year in Vietnamese and Chinese (my two heritages). This entry comes about a week too late...but I figured better late than never.

February 14 was Chinese New Year this year...if you want to learn more about how this is the Year of the Tiger, I'm sure you can Google it. There are plenty of amusing sites out there with all the same superstitions and stipulations that my mom still keeps very much alive to this day.

Any way - this is hands down my favorite holiday (that is - until the day I get married). It's all about food..and receiving "lucky money". Lucky money is money in special red envelopes that "adults" give to "kids" to share their wealth and hope to bestow upon them some luck as well as some luck for themselves. At least that's my understanding of it. I wouldn't totally trust myself since I am pretty much a banana/twinkie, whatever you want to call me. So the day I get married is the day I'm considered an "adult" which is fine by me, because this makes up for the lame taxes I have to pay after college!

I thought I would share some highlights from my Chinese New Year..because food...is ooohhhh so good.

My mommy's slightly modified version of a Beef Chow Fun. She's still using rice noodles, they are just in little funny shapes. It reminds me of asian noodles trying to be Italian and bite size.

Mmmmm so delish! It's greasy but so good. And that's what tea is for right? (My mom always says that jasmine tea is supposed to help "melt" the grease away)

This is my mom's modified version of Drunken Noodles, or Pud Kee Mao...depending on what Thai restuarant you go to. It's a blend of rice noodles, garlic, basil, onions, bell peppers, egg, beef, and lots of sauces and spices. Mmmmmm...

So on Chinese New Year's Eve, my mom makes a bunch of food, and we offer it our ancestors as a prayer sort of thing. We're not allowed to eat it until we've finished praying multiple times, and it's very difficult with so much delicous smelling food! And yes...that is a whole chicken with the head still on. My mom says that things are meant to be whole on Chinese New Year, like we can't cut things off or it's bad luck. I'm not really sure where this superstition comes from but she also won't cut hair or sweep the house or do laundry on the day of the new year and for 3 days following. I'm not sure why really...I just do what she says.

The table is set!

On the day of Chinese New Year, my mom and I went to a temple some close family friends own and started a long morning of cooking...lots of lots of food. Those noodles aren't even all the noodles we used!

Lots of food preparations underway...

Deep frying delicous-ness and my mom's sweet sticky rice w/ taro and sesame seeds.

Kevin cookin' up a storm! Mmm chow mein!

Mixed veggies...on the day of New Year's we're not allowed to eat meat...not sure why other than you're just not supposed to.

Then the chinese dragons came out! Traditionally, these dragon dances are done at all temples to bring the temple good luck in the coming year.

Apparently the dragon eats lettuce and throws it into the temple. My dad says it's for good luck. Apparently anything you do for this day is all about luck. So back to food...

Well I guess there isn't much else to show. We continued to cook and cook and cook. It was a wonderful morning/afternoon.

How to Make Wine (Part 4): Bottling

2010-02-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

One word: MESSY

Sanitizing and cleaning 30 bottles of wine...is definitely not a good time. So i procrastinated. And ended up bottling the wine three weeks after stablising and clearing (one week later than instructed)...I was just crossing my fingers. Especially since I lost the top that goes on the bung to keep all the oxygen out...

Meghan and I drew some wine out to check for clarity...we were told to go into a dark room and shine a flashlight but it was pretty clear. Probably the lightest red I've ever seen next to a white zinfandel. We even snagged a taste. It was surprisingly sweet with a bitter zing at the end, which we think is from the fermentation.

We had to siphon the wine out which was tricky since we were trying to avoid the sediment on the bottom...and we didn't really think the process through about how to cut the wine off when we wanted to switch bottles....we ended up with lots of wine ll over the kitchen floor, on my pants and on my slippers. :( Eventually we got the process down...but it was pretty tricky and I know we accidentally sucked up some cloudy wine...some wood chip pieces could be seen floating around in the bottle....Troy says good wine has some sediment on the bottom of the bottle. I don't know about that...but if anyone asks, that's what I am going to say. :) It was definitely a tricky process.

Thanks to The Cellar Homebrew, a small brew shop in Greenwood, I was able to find a simple corker, some corks, sealers, and blank labels to finish my bottles. The corker was about $35...which isn't too bad. After the soaking the corks (by recommendation of the guy at the store), we proceeded to take turns corking.

After we finished corking, I placed the bottles in our "secret room" since it was dark and cool there. Now that I am writing this...a good week after bottling...I realized I read the directions a little backwards. I was supposed to leave the bottles upright for three days before laying them down on their sides to allow the corks to seal. Well...I thought I was supposed to lay them down for three days before standing them upright...so I just went to check on them and the corks seems to be popping out a little... OOPS! Live and learn I guess...I really hope it doesn't affect how the wine will taste. :(

It's recommended that we wait a month before tasting the wine...so in the meantime, I am brainstorming names for my wine and the design of the label...so far I want a tree theme with a name in Italian...and something along the lines of "new beginnings" since this wine has a lot to do with a making a fresh start for me. But italian phrases tend to be a little long so...I'm still brainstorming. After I finish making labels, I'll seal the bottles, and have some wine!

So whatever you do, don't do what I did above right after you bottle...

After I label the bottles and crack one open for taste, I'll write a conclusion about this whole experience, which seems more like a fiasco...but it was still fun. Hakuna Matata!

Review: Toulouse Petit

2010-01-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

I must say before this review that I am not very familiar with creole cooking...but when I was in New Orleans this past fall, I fell in love with it. Like Ben says to me, "If you were to ever move to New Orleans...that would be the end of Sandy Lam." Comfort foods to the max. Since my return I have been craving some tasty southern cooking, a bit weary of being able to find something as wonderful in Seattle. Fried chicken here is NOT like fried chicken down there...even at Ezell's. Although if someone were trying to drag me to KFC, I would pick Ezell's handsdown.

Any way, my good friend Ben suggested Toulouse Petit for an early dinner for us. All he had to say was cajun and I was hooked. Upon arrival, I was a little taken back by how classy the place looked. Candlelight glow seemed to be the only source of light, until I noticed the glass blown light fixtures above every table and booth. Which was equally as dim. To quote one of my favorite bands (enter shameless plug), The Senate, there was definitely some "sexy ambiance" going on. Actually, the mention of The Senate, isn't so random for this entry, if it weren't for one of the members, Nick Drummond, I would've never gone to New Orleans to experience all its majesties. So check them out, if you're lucky you can hear their reunion on Feb. 6 at The Triple Door (my favorite Seattle music venue...I'll probably write a review after I go in a couple weeks so you can hear how wonderful it is).

Ok - back to food. So the "look" of the place was impressive. There was a moderately casual level of noise that was a mix of conversations and kitchen clatter, which I liked. Really quiet restaurants tend to creep me out. We were seated right away, as the happy hour/dinner rush was just about to start. As soon as I sat down though, I immediately knew what was missing. Music. The best part of New Orleans is the music. And when I realized what was playing in the background, I was a bit confused. The Shins. The Shins? Really? Don't get me wrong, I love The Shins, but not in a creole restaurant. After that, the music choice didn't get much better...so it might just be me (a music lover) being picky, but that part didn't score any cool points.

The menu however - scores many cool points. Or delicious points actually. Here's a couple things I managed to scribble down:
* Seared duck confit salad with endive, radicchio and poached egg ($9.50)
* Louisiana blue crab over fried green tomatoes with Tarragon Chive Ravigote ($15.00)
Their seafood menu included four different types of oysters and many other delicious dishes. I spent forever pouring over the menu trying to decide what to eat and learning about the restaurant's origins. The back of the menu included great interesting facts and thank yous for people who helped put the restaurant together.

One thing that is noticeable about the place is the attention to detail the place has as far as constructing a vibe and atmosphere to the place. Which I think is something I noticed when I was in NOLA. Each store, restaurant and bar I visited had it's own vibe. Their own creative twist - like each store was a reflection of it's own distinctive personality. Perfect example: Coops. Which really deserves another entry of its own so I'll have to explain that one another time. According to the menu, there are 85,000 moasiac tiles on the body of the floor of the restaurant, 712 panes of glass in the windows, and 40,000 glass tiles in the platforms of the booths. Toulouse Petit employees have tasted tested over 3,000 wines during the year it was in construction to hand pick an impressive selection of wine. Being the wino that I am, I was about to order a glass, but noticed Abita Amber on the menu. I immediately ordered one, since I seemed it was so fitting. My second drink in New Orleans was an Abita Amber, which came recommended by my friend Nick. I'm not a beer drinker at all (in fact it's only within the past couple of months I have come to somewhat like the taste of it, and even then I can only stand a pint of it), so the fact that I like this New Orleans brew says something to others like me.

So that was an easy pleaser. We started with some Spicy Deep Fried Alligator with white and red remoulade sauce. I've never had alligator before, but I liked it! It was like a cross between chicken and seafood. Sweeter and lighter than chicken, but with a similar meat consistency. I've also never had remoulade sauce, but it's wonderful! The white sauce had a creamy, buttery, green onion base and the red was similar to a spicy, but chunky hot wing sauce. Ever had a 7-Alarm wing? Well it looked like that, smelled MUCH BETTER, and was no where near as spicy as that horrid thing. We also nibbled on some french bread with honey butter before our food came. The honey butter wasn't the greatest, but hey - it's honey butter and it's hard to complain about honey butter.

For dinner, Ben ordered Crawfish Etoufee (dark roux French Quarter classic, served over creole basmati rice with scallions and Parsley). For $14.50 you could have what's seen below!

I had a Buttermilk-fresh Herb Fried Game Hen with a Black Pepper-Tasso Gravy (A sexed up version of the ubiquitous southern favorite with pureed potatoes and mini buttermilk biscuits) $14.00

Taste: Definitely hearty - definitely creole. The gravy sauce on the hen had just the right spices. The potatoes were pureed but not to the point where I was wondering if this came from a powder in a box, they were just slightly buttery, and balanced out the incredibly flavorful hen and gravy. Oh man - it was delish. The mini biscuits were hardly flaky, in fact they were quite moist with almost a cake like consistency. I wish I had saved some honey butter for them. From the bite of Ben's Crawfish Etoufee that I had, it was pretty intense, but probably can't say much more than that.

Overall, I liked the place. The food was good, service was prompt, and the atmosphere was great. Those are my essentials for restaurants. However, what scores cool points in my book are authenticity, creativity, and price. While I enjoyed the classy but casual atmosphere, I didn't really feel like it was a southern resturant. The atmosphere reminded of a place that Nick and I were literally hoodwinked into. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but somehow Nick and I got talked into from the streets to dining at this snazzy looking place - only to find the food was incredibly disappointing and pricey. Lucky, Talouse Petit has MUCH BETTER food and I didn't feel so cheated when I left the place. Maybe I'm just expecting too much, but I was hoping the vibes I would get from the restaurant would match my feelings for NOLA. I guess it might be too much to expect to have the same experience, but it is how I feel.

It definitely runs on the pricier side, but I've paid more, for food that wasn't as fabulous as this. The portions are large, but not too large. The service was prompt, but not genuine. The overwhelming menu and attention to detail scores many points in my book though.

*One thing to note though, make sure you are not seated by a window next to the street. A street light kept flickering on an off and since the place had such low lighting, it was really irritating to have your eyes adjust so often while you're eating.

Rating: ***.5 (I don't want to quite give it a 4 since I haven't really tried any other Seattle creole places)
Toulouse Petit
601 Queen Anne Avenue North (at the junction with W Mercer Pl.)
Seattle, WA 98109-4013
(206) 849-3602

Frugal Foodies

2010-01-20T17:49:00.000-08:00

This is such an interesting group...I may make it a goal of mine to try it sometime! Random people getting together to cook fantastic meals together!

Frugal Foodies makes its Seattle debut: http://crosscut.com/2010/01/18/food/19514/

Jan. 10 - Jan. 16 Food Fiascos and Tasty Triumphs

2010-01-17T16:19:00.001-08:00

Long story short: I didn't cook much this week. But here you go!

It's a Trader Joe's salmon roullette stuffed with spinach florentine. I made my favorite spinach quinoa (pronounced keen-wha) dish with it...but it was a bit too much protein...but incredibly filling. If you don't know what quinoia is...it's the must wonderful superfood. Tasty and nutritious, this almost grain-like source that has all 8 amino acids. You can use it in place of grain foods (I usually substitute for rice or pasta). The best way to describe it is that it's pretty much like a hearty cous cous. Anyway, the following is a recipe: Although it doesn't have to be followed to a T - because I just make it up the proportions most of the time.

Ingredients:
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 1 large onion(s), minced
* 1 medium garlic clove(s), minced
* 1 cup(s) quinoa, rinsed (or purchase pre-rinsed quinoa)*
* 2 cup(s) reduced-sodium chicken broth
* 1/8 tsp black pepper
* 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional
* 4 cup(s) spinach, baby leaves, packed, coarsely chopped
* 1/2 tsp table salt
Directions:
* Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.

* Add quinoa to skillet; cook, stirring frequently, until quinoa starts to turn golden brown, about 2 minutes.

* Add broth, black pepper and red pepper flakes to skillet; bring to a boil. Cover skillet and reduce heat to low and simmer for 13 minutes; stir in spinach. Cover skillet and cook until spinach and quinoa are tender and liquid is absorbed, about 3 to 5 minutes; season with salt. Yields about 1/2 cup per serving.

The salmon was just thawed and sauteed with some white wine and garlic. Delish for being frozen!

Meghan decided to put her sushi skills to the test the other night. We make a pretty good team. Tempura Sushi is sooo good.

My first Pacific Northwest Cooking and Recipes Meetup

2010-01-16T16:52:00.000-08:00

I've recently joined a club: The Pacific Northwest Cooking and Recipes Meetup and went to the first meeting today. It was fantastic. Here are some of the foods we shared!

Crab stuffed mushrooms broiled with white wine

Pesto Baguettes (I'm not of the official title)

Crab Ragoon (My favorite!! I seriously ate half of these)

And this was just the sweetest wine bottle opener ever!

Our next adventure is to make homemade pasta, which I may or may not attend. I've made it before and I find it incredibly labor intensive and I'm just as satisfied getting my tortellini at the store. :) Although I will say it definitely tastes much better and I wouldn't mind doing it for a special occasion.

Review: Bakery Nouveau

2010-01-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

In my perfect world, there are a couple of businesses I would personally bribe to relocate near my home (to be determined) just so I could indulge myself in whatever they had to offer me. One of them, is Bakery Nouveau. It's probably for the best that it's a bit of a trip for me to grab a $3.85 croissant sent from the pastry gods.

Located in central West Seattle, Bakery Nouveau offers so much goodness, even people such as myself who drool over foods can't handle the intensity at times. I came upon this place when a good friend of mine recommended it to me. Being the food connoisseur that he is (as in he literally ordered seven of the same lobster dishes at once while on a cruise just to figure out which one would taste best after hearing the food quality was inconsistent), I took his recommendation to heart. We made a trip together and my mouth was already starting to build more saliva than usual once I entered the small shop.

I can't describe how much I LOVE the smell of bakeries. If it weren't for the fact I don't think I can ever work out enough to keep the amount of pastries I like to consume in one sitting off my body, I would probably spend a lot more time working on my pastry making skills. Not to mention the patience involved with that. Any way, the windows of the shop have multiple homemade pizzas lined up, each looking more delicous than the next. The next display will not only intrigue your taste buds, but your appreciation for the art of desserts as well. Cakes of all sizes including large 8-inch ones adorn the top of the display. My favorite is the individual 3-inch cakes which are literally miniature versions of their larger counterparts. For father's day last year, we got a variety of individual cakes for all the dad's (from our secondary family). Photo to the right taken by Jane Li, of the different mini cakes we got. Classic chocolate and the Phoenix Mousse.

The third display has an arrangement of french bread (which I heard makes the most fantastic sandwiches), quiches, sandwiches, etc. I've only been able to sample the quiches (A Quiche Lorraine and a Spinach Ricotta), which were each so savory, it didn't matter if you had them warm or cold. The crust along makes my mouth drool just thinking about it. And the filling has just the right blend of flavors. It's hardly bland and you can taste how each ingredient compliments the others. At $4.50 each, this is definitely a snack or small breakfast I would love to treat myself to. I didn't take a photo of the last quiche I got (I ate in the car and forgot I hadn't taken a picture), but just know everything in this store looks incredible.

The last display is where it get's really dangerous. Because if you're a recent college grad such as myself and not making the big bucks, you're always looking for the best deal. I'm usually going for the "whatever gets me the most food for the least amount of money" sort of thing. But Bakery Nouveau is a special treat and you can't skimp there. So after feeling completely overwhelmed by the intesity of everything, I put my bargain hat on. The pizzas you can pass on if you're not that hungry; the cakes you can pass on because you don't want to buy a whole cake for yourself or spend close to $5.00 for a slice of cake; you can even pass on the sandwhiches or quiches if you were able to pass up the pizzas. The last display has an incredibly delectable assortment of pastries. Each one is beautifully crafted, and it's hard to determine what you want exactly, if you are a snacker like me. I could definitely bringing a friend or two and sharing whichever desserts you decide to go with. That way you can sample each one. Nothing gets a reaction out of me better than their Cherry Almond Croissants. When I went this past weekend, the workers told me they hadn't made any in a while, so I got the next best thing. A Twice Baked Croissant. Exchanged for $3.85, this is probably the most intense pastry I've ever had. The crust is flaky, but the entire piece is so dense, one can only handle so much rich sweetness. It is soaked in simple syrup and stuffed with almond cream. It is then topped with sliced Almonds, powder sugar and more almond cream. Drool......

Besides the croissants and quiche on my last visit, I bought an 8-inch Phoenix Mousse for my mom's birthday. I can't even describe this cake any better than their website describes it:

"This cake scored the highest points in the National Pastry Championship, 2005. It is a triple layer mousse cake with a delicate balance of pear mousse, 70% chocolate mousse, caramel mousse, pecan dacquoise and chocolate sponge cake. All covered with a caramel glaze."

Don't forget your morning, afternoon, evening, or anytime of day latte at the bakery as well. Although I'm not much of a coffee drinker, I heard the espresso is quite tasty.

After several successful visits, here I am. I've also learned that Bakery Nouveau is home to mutliple award winning bakers. Another great perk is that the bakery is open late. Later than any bakery I've ever been to. 7 or 9 p.m. seven days a week. Needless to say this place is doing well, catering to all types of events, and sponsoring many local events and charities.

So the next time you are in West Seattle, don't leave without making a stop for a little slice of heaven.

Rating *****
Bakery Nouveau
4737 California Ave SW (at the Alaskan junction)
Seattle, WA 98116
206-923-0534

Jan. 1 - Jan. 9 - Tasty triumphs and food fiascos

2010-01-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

This week was quite successful in my opinion, besides starting the new year off with a disappointing meal at Claim Jumper. I guess we could start with that so we can end on a happy note.

Food Fiascos

After a great day snowshoeing to start off the new year, my friends and I were famished. So of course we chose the closest restaurant we knew would serve us ginormous proportions. I haven't been to Claim Jumper in about four years, but I remembered loving their insane and ridiculous proportions. I was pretty excited for what I ordered - it sounded amazing and I had something similar before at Famous Dave's. It was a "Giant Stuffed Idaho Potato" (Charbroiled or blackened chicken, fresh squash, broccoli & carrots with melted cheddar & jack cheese baked and served with homemade alfredo sauce - $11.95). I was stoked because the price was pretty low for Claim Jumper and it sounded amazing. Plus according to their caloric menu, it only weighed in at less than 1200 calories! (The last time I checked something on a menu was a Cajun Chicken Pasta from Cheesecake factory and it was definitely 2950 calories!)

Eventually the food came. And I was very very sadly disappointed. First of all - this was NOT a giant potato. If you want a giant potato - go to Famous Dave's! The most incredible stuffed baked potato I've ever had. Great BBQ too. Any way - the chicken was very dry, the vegetables were bland and what seemed to be barely steamed. I think the only saving grace was alfredo sauce that might've had some cheese in it. I was pretty saddened by this experience. I remember the potato cakes being my favorite thing on the menu but I didn't order any this time since my whole dish was a potato. Our service was good, the atmosphere was just as I remembered it. Busy, semi low lighting, lots and lots of people. Our server was polite and punctual, checking in on us at just the right times. Definitely trying to work the up sale on us, but did so in a nice way. Any way - that's all I have to say about that. But if you want a giant stuffed baked potato, go to Famous Dave's. Too bad there isn't one in Seattle. I need to do some more discovering.

Tasty Triumphs

Pike Place...how you never disappoint. I love being able to hop onto a bus down the street from my house and pop out just above Pike Place. Fresh spanikopita, smoked salmon pate piroshki, bbq pork hom bow...mmm....I bought some unique pasta from Pappardelle's Pasta to try with a secret sauce recipe I stole from a guy I seeing. The sauce is a an incredibly rich cream sauce with garlic, fresh basil, sundried tomatoes, and spinach. Usually made with bow tie pasta, but I wanted to see what it would be like with Pappardelle's Garlic Basil Fettichini. Mmmmmmm garlic and basil pasta....

I decided to make the pasta as a welcome home dinner for Meghan...and it turned out great because she pitched in on some ingredients so we could have a well balanced meal. I made Heather's cheese bread from heaven (garlic butter with warm cream cheese spread on french bread, topped with shredded mozzarella and broiled. Meghan made a spring salad with tomatoes. I was going to make some other veggie side dish but got too lazy. Although the fettuccine was dried, it cooked quickly compared to other dried pasta you get in the store. The sauce turned out great (being that I was basically just guessing because I never made it myself). The meal was fantastic, the only problem was that the fettuccine was surprisingly heavy. Fettuccine normally is filling, but this was filling on a whole other level. It was dense and had just enough of hint of flavor. I think since the sauce was already heavy and thick to begin with, the pasta was a bit much. I loved the garlic basil fettuccine, but think it would be much tastier in something that was more veggie loaded tossed with a light lemony sauce. Oh well - noted for next time....

The quick meal of the week: Louisiana hot links sauteed with onions and bell peppers served with some wild rice. 20 minutes later - delish. It's pretty much prepared how it sounds!

I am a huge fan of pasta primavera...if I was vegetarian, I would just eat any pasta primavera for the rest of my life. And hummus. I love hummus. I've tried several pasta primaveras over the past year and tried to create one of my own. This week - I got pretty close...even without the summer vegetables. Can't wait till they're in season again and I can get them at the farmer's market!

How to Make Wine (Part 3): Stabilising and clearing

2010-01-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

Probably the least exciting part of making wine. This is where I lost part of my allure to making my own wine.

After 10 days, I checked the wine and measured the gravity. To ensure it's stability it had to read the same gravity level two days in a row. To pick up all the sediment, we had to stir vigorously. Good thing I had Troy.

After stirring in some more metabisulphite and sorbate, we stirred some more - vigorously, as the instructions and DVD clearly stated. Then we left the wine for another two weeks.

Pretty simple. :)

December's food fiascos and tasty triumphs

2010-01-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Since I just started this blog, I'm going to include some earlier food adventures from the month of December. But I'm hoping to make this entry a weekly event.

Tasty Triumphs

Creamy shrimp bites (these don't have a real name...I stole the recipe from my mom). This is one of my favorite appetizers to make because it's delicious, easy, and fast. Anyone that loves cheese and shrimp in general will love this. This spread stores will in the fridge and is still tasty after a couple of days (It's never lasted more than 2 days in my house just because it gets eaten!)

The following ingredients are just an estimation...I learned to make it without measurements. Serves quite a few (30-40 pieces?)

- 2 Baguettes
- 1 bag of frozen or fresh uncooked shrimp (18 oz. I think) with tails on
- 2-3 bunches of chopped green onions
- Half a sweet purple onion (I don't remember the technical name off the top of my head)
- Half a bag of shredded cheeses (any assortment really, but no pepper jack)
- The last ingredient grosses me out, and hopefully maybe one day I can use a substitute...but about 1-2 cups of mayo if not more...
- Salt and pepper

Mix everything together and spoon it onto slices of baguettes. Broil at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. The snacks will be ready when the top part just turns brown (usually 5-10 minutes).

Mmmm so tasty...

Homemade Tempura sushi is always tasty...

My friend Trevor made us some tasty homemade pizza..I forgot to take pictures of the finished products, but they were amazing...All ingredients were homemade (including the marinara and pesto)
- Magherita pizza
- Pepperoni (ok the pepperoni wasn't homemade...)
- Veggie (Bell peppers, onions, olives...I don't remember the rest..I didn't eat it)
- Meat lovers (Italian sausage, pepperoni, onions, feta, I don't know what else because I didn't eat that one either)
- Pesto, pine nuts, feta, fontina, mozzarella, italian sausage, bell peppers
- Hawaiian (canadian bacon and fresh pinapple)

Delish!

Food Fiascos

I have to express my extreme displeasure with Diva Espresso. Only for their chai tea lattes though. But I was reminded the other day why I so strongly dislike the chai there, I feel that it needs to be documented. When I got my regular soy chai for the first time at Diva, I was sadly dissapointed. I remembered taking 5 sips and throwing it away. And if anyone knows me, I HATE to throw away food. Especially food I've paid for! I went there a second time because everyone at my work raves about Diva's coffee. Being the rejected Seattlite that doesn't actually drink coffee, I stopped by again at the same location to get another chai, hoping that maybe the last time was just a fluke by a barista's first time on the job. The second time - it tasted exactly the same. Different barista's - same taste. A dirty, oily, burnt rubber taste is what it reminds me of. I don't know if it's the soy or the chai - but after that I said never again. And then someone offered to go on a coffee run (not knowing where they were going I ordered a chai, and then I was reminded why to never order a soy chai for Diva's. I'd like to know what it is I don't like about it, but I'm pretty sure I've never had a more foul experience at a coffee shop. I could go on an on about chais and teas...so maybe I'll save that for another entry...

For Christmas Day, I decided to try my first standing rib roast....in a nutshell it didn't go too well. I tried a recipe I found by Paula Deen. It looked and sounded easy enough, so I tried it. I was only cooking for three people though so I tried to find a smaller roast and guess on cooking times. The first time I took it out, the meat was quite rare. The second time I took it out I ended up just slicing some pieces before putting it back in. In the end the seasoning was fantastic, but the meat texture...not so much. It was edible, but not the greatest.

I think that's it for now...it's been a while so I'm sure I've missed some things.

How to make wine (Part 2: Secondary Fermentation)

2009-12-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

So after a week, we (minus Meghan because she's too busy getting sunburned in New Zealand - plus my friend Sam, who was visiting from Texas) checked the wine to make sure it had reached the correct gravity. Opening the container was an interesting experience...it didn't smell fantastic, but at least we knew the yeast was working!

All we had to do now was transfer the juice into the carboy (giant glass jug). But...that wasn't that easy for me. Sucking the half way fermented juice through a tube wasn't exactly appealing.

Luckily for me, Troy knew what he was doing so he finally got things moving.

Once the jug was filled, we added the bung (basically a large cork with a plastic thin on top that keeps air out). And we'll wait another 10 days. Unfortunately, we seemed to have lost the top that goes to the bung...but we found something that kind of works. So we'll see...

How to make Wine (Part 1: Primary Fermentation)

2009-12-16T23:14:00.000-08:00

Because this is my most adventurous creation..I finally had enough motivation to start writing this stuff down. Sorry for the lame intro - but welcome!

I like wine. Correction: I LOVE WINE. And what better thing for a foodie like me to do but to make some wine of my own? Well...the real goal here is to try the easy kits first and then hopefully crushing my own fruits to make some wine...and hopefully by that time I will have moved to Italy to work on a vineyard and I'll be set. :)

I got a complete wine making kit from a lovely wine shop in Mt. Vernon. (If you haven't been to Mt. Vernon or La Conner, I highly suggest you pay a visit in the spring or summer. La Conner hosts the annual Tulip festival every year, and to say the least, the flowers are incredible)

The Wine: Vintners Reserve World Vineyard Collections - A California Zinfandel and Shiraz blend: Which makes six gallons of wine (approximately 30 bottles - have fun getting those empty bottles!).

I went to a wine making demonstration a few weeks ago thanks to Dorcas Toombs, who owns My Own Vintage, a small shop that makes you feel right at home. It's sort of one of those places that makes you feel like you've been friends with the owners for years and you're just all hanging out drinking and learning about wine together. Love it. So my roommates and I had somewhat of an idea of what we were doing. Making your own wine was pretty intimidating for me, and watching the little intro DVD that came with our kit didn't help my confidence either.

1. Sanitizing your equipment
This is where things already started to go wrong for me. The real first step is to unpack EVERYTHING in your wine kit and lay it out in front of you and try to determine what each ingredient is know when you are going to need it. Long story short: There were two different packets called Metabisulphite...and apparently one was Potassium Metabisulphite and regular Metabisulphite. Well..since we failed to unpack EVERYTHING...we didn't see there were two different packets. And proceeded to mix the wrong Metabisulphite package with water to sanitize our equipment.

So needless to say we had to dump it out. The good news is we learned that we don't need the Potassium Metabisulphite for another couple of weeks. So hopefully I can get that replaced before we need it.

SO - the real first step is to sanitize all our equipment by spraying it down with a mixture of Metabisulphite and water.

2. Ensuring our primary fermenter is capable of holding 8 gallons

We filled our carboy (giant glass jug) with water (about 6 gallons) and poured it into our primary fermenter so that we could make a 6 gallon mark on the primary fermenter.

3. The part where everything gets mixed

Next, we stirred two litres of hot water and the packet of Bentonite together at the bottom of our fermenter. Meghan had to stir pretty vigorously because that's what the DVD said to do...and we had a good laugh about it because the DVD was pretty cheezy.

Anyway, the next part was pretty scary, pouring the juice into the fermenter. It was pretty heavy and at the last demonstration we saw there was some spillage and I'm sure intense grape juice stains. But it was fun.
Then we added some water to flush out what was left in the juice bag and filled the fermenter until it reached our six gallon marker from earlier. Pretty simple.

Looking good!

4. The not so simple part (for non-math folk like myself)
This was the tricky part because it required learning some terminology. Using a wine thief (similar to a really large syringe pipe), we took a sample of the wine and poured it into what I think is basically a graduated cylinder, so that we could measure the gravity. Each wine has a different gravity measure, which wasn't too hard to figure out since it was in the instructions. The tricky part was trying to figure out how to read the hydrometer...Meghan and Troy had to team up for this one.

After much debate, we decided it was ready! We added some oak chips and took the temperature of the mixture to make sure it was right before we added any yeast. Once we added it, we were ready to store it. We could hardly wait we almost sampled it! :)

I made this two days ago, and in a few more days I'll be ready to move it into the carboy..which will be really interesting...

Until then - happy eating!