Tag Archives: Seattle

First Soup of 2016! Red Lentil and North African Spices

18 Monday Jan 2016

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How’s everyone’s 2016 so far?  All’s fabulous here…lots more to do getting settled into the new apartment and fantastic new life in Seattle proper!  LOTS and lots of downsizing and purging…when you go from a 3 bedroom 1450 sq ft townhouse to an (awesome) NEW 1 bedroom with 650 sq ft…well, it’s an adjustment!  IMG_0565And an incredible adjustment it is.  Joyous, cleansing and full of happiness.  I’m learning how much I unconsciously “filled” the large spaces in the townhouse with crap I didn’t need.  Kitchen gadgets.  Clothes.  Towels.  Sheets.  God knows what else.

Now I’m learning that everything…EVERYTHING in the new apartment needs to Earn. Its. Keep.  Everything’s gotta count!  That means choosing pieces which are best sellers that not only are beautiful but are functional as well.  Exhibit A:  the gorgeous 6 3/4 quart (~6.3 l) Le Creuset cast iron Dutch oven…my housewarming gift to myself!  This will last me a lifetime…and it was a terrific find at an outlet about an hour drive north.  It’s a “closeout” color – love the gorgeous blue!

I’m continuing my love affair with making soup from scratch, which started probably 3-4 years ago.  Search on “soup” in here and see what pops up!

E and I made a delicious red lentil soup with North African spices we found in a recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated.  As the recipe explains, red lentils are relatively quick and easy to cook, as their skins are already removed.  Meaning, no hours of soaking required!  Hooray! We just gave these a quick rinse in a colander and they were good to go.  Don’t have a stick blender to puree your soup?  No problem here.  Just grab a large whisk and give the soup a whirl at the end of the cooking process to give it a coarse texture.

Serves 4 to 6

  • 4 T unsalted butter
  • 1 large onion, chopped fine
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3/4 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of cayenne
  • 1 T tomato paste
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 4 C chicken broth
  • 2 C water
  • 10.5 oz (1 1/2 cups) red lentils, picked over and rinsed
  • 2 T lemon juice, plus extra for seasoning
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried mint, crumbled
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 C chopped cilantro

Melt 2 T butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and 1 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.  Add coriander, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne and 1/4 tsp pepper and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in broth, water and lentils and bring to a simmer.  Simmer vigorously, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft and about half are broken down, about 15 minutes.

Whisk soup vigorously until it is coarsely pureed, about 30 seconds.  Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and extra lemon juice to taste.  Cover and keep warm.  The soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.  Thin the soup with water, if desired, when reheating.

Melt remaining 2 T butter in a small skillet.  Remove from heat and stir in mint and paprika.  Ladle soup into individual bowls, drizzle each portion with 1 tsp spiced butter, sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Fivenineteen notes:  Oh my goodness, just one clove of garlic??  Criminal!  Don’t skimp here…rather, we used an entire head.  And feel free to amp up the spices much more than this recipe called for.  We did use a few ounces more than the 10.5 called for, and I think that made the soup a lot more bland than we liked.  That’s what leftovers are for, right?  Time to add more spices!  We also used salted butter and it made no difference.

Buon appetito!

Break on Through to the Other Side…

29 Tuesday Dec 2015

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CC AptMy God, I did it.  Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s been months since my last post.  I did it…I really fucking DID IT.

I sold the townhouse and moved back into Seattle proper.  To a beautiful, eclectic neighborhood, and I can’t wait to share more about it with all of you.

Just wanted to sneak in one more post before our calendars flip to 2016.  Wow.  The last few months have been a whirlwind blur of fixit projects on turbo overloaded fast track.  Everything to get the townhouse ready to go on the market.  Real estate here in Seattle is still redhot and I wanted my share, not to mention make a long overdue move to get back to an urban lifestyle.

It happened.  I’ve been pinching myself lately as I still can’t believe it’s true.  But it is.  Check out my kitchen island and great room.  The room is now a glorious sea of boxes as I get unpacked and organized.  Downsizing is AWESOME, everyone….I highly recommend it.  I gaze around at this glorious new apartment and up at my 10 foot ceilings.  THIS is home for now.

And much more to follow.  Happy New Year, everyone!  Here’s to an even better 2016.

Dreams…Dusted Off

05 Sunday Jul 2015

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6_RL_June2015Well, my dear readers and followers…this has been the longest I’ve gone in a loooong time not posting in here.  Been kind of a nice break and breather.  Sometimes I just don’t feel compelled to post every week like I’ve typically done the past few years…wow, this blog will be SIX in September!  Life has transformed in so many ways since that first “I don’t know what’s going to happen in here” post in September 2009.

So what’s been going on lately?  A HOT HOT HOT Seattle summer…mind blowing and record-breaking!  90s temperatures (32-33 degrees C)…before the 4th of July???  Yes.  And I love it.  I embrace it and relish in it.  So I have sweat running down my back upstairs here in the townhouse sometimes?  Who cares.

And I’ve gone to the dark side these past couple months…yes, I’m getting into cycling.  As in bike riding.  I was fortunate to stumble upon a great (free) offer to take a bike from a friend and former co-worker…one of those classic “I got a bike and I only rode it 6 times in 3 years” stories.  And I’m hooked!  Wow.  I’m discovering the freedom and flexibility (not to mention great exercise) provided to your mind and body when you ditch your car and hop on your bike.

I started right away doing some urban biking with E.  Along the Duwamish trail.  West Seattle to Georgetown.  West Seattle up to Fremont for the annual Solstice Festival.  And the bus system provides even more flexibility, as they come equipped with bike racks.  What could be easier than this?  Just hop on the bus, clamp your bike on the rack and voila!  Actually, E’s been helping me with getting my bike up onto the bus racks until I get the hang of it. I’ve got the upper body strength to lift it up, but the mechanics of it aren’t quite there yet for me.  I’m super happy for the help meanwhile.  And discovering the joy of (re)discovering my hometown on two wheels!

I’m glad my first ventures out were straight away into urban environments like Georgetown, Beacon Hill, Columbia City and other Seattle neighborhoods.  You really have to be on your guard watching for cars and large trucks…this is the industrial heart of Seattle where it all happens…neighborhoods you might normally zip through and not pay much attention to in your car.  Now, on a bike…you savor them.  The scenery.  The sounds.  The smells.  Bakeries.  Truck Fuel.  Urine. Flowers.

And when we switched to riding in more suburban or paved bike trail environments around here, I felt so calm, like it was no big deal.  Going super urban and through downtown right away…well, I didn’t have any time to second guess myself or feel nervous.  Just GO!  Now THAT’S awesome.

We’ve beaten the heat getting outta Dodge for some beautiful hikes…the latest was Rachel Lake, just over Snoqualmie Pass.  It’s a challenging one with some steep switchbacks and a couple of small rock scrambles.  When you get to the top (see the pic above) you’re at around 4600′ elevation (1420m).  Amazing.  Even at that elevation it was warm…but the breezes were cool and I was ready to cannonball into the lake!  But dunking my feet in was bliss.  I highly recommend this hike – it’s not an easy one, fair warning, though.  And bring your bug spray.  The mosquitoes are rampant, but when I was doused in spray I managed only 4-5 bites over a 6 hour hike which is pretty amazing.

Sometimes dreams reawaken with a crack of rotten wood and a SNAP.  That’s just what happened when E put his foot through the rotten dried up wood on one of my deck balconies.  Thankfully it was intentional and not an accident (eesh).  So a trip to the lumber yard is on the list soon to replace the boards (it’s pretty small , about 65 sq feet).

And with that, a dream from 20+ years ago reawakened from its long slumber…I need to live in the city and get out of the suburbs.  For real.  Now that I work downtown and spend most of my free time in the city as well, I’m realizing how my townhouse has morphed into a crash pad.  A crash pad screaming for more repairs and updates.  Things I’ve put off due to confusion or just pure procrastination and fucking laziness.

Oh yes, you’re intrigued now, right?  Stay tuned for much, much more on this new (reawakened) dream!  The wheels are in motion to fix this place up and find me a new place to live.

The Royal Room (in Seattle)

25 Sunday Jan 2015

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royalroomIt’s late January in the Seattle suburbs and I’m sitting here with sunshine streaming in through the OPEN WINDOWS in my home office.  Wuhh??  Yep, it’s a whopping and unheard of 63 degrees F right now (just over 17C)…normally we’d be in a grey and windy rainy mess right now.  We’ll take the sunshine any day!  And warmth!  And any opportunity to get windows open here in the townhouse for some fresh air…ahhh, love it.

Meanwhile I am over the moon about a fantastic live music place I’ve been enjoying immensely over the last few months – The Royal Room, in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood, just a bit south of downtown Seattle.  A 15 minute light rail ride from downtown (and a quick 2-block walk) brings you here…to one of THE most diverse zip codes in the country, so they say. That zip code is 98118 if anyone wants to look it up.   Columbia City brings a wonderfully eclectic mix of restaurants, shops and bars.  No chains here save for one Starbucks.  That’s by design, I’m sure.

The Royal Room opened in December 2011 and is a lot different from most live music clubs around here.  First of all, there’s typically no cover charge.  Sure, there’s a two drink minimum, but the musicians are paid based on your donations of your choosing.  The stage and sound system are state of the art, yet there’s a fantastic old school vibe about it right when you step inside.

And when you step inside its warm and intimate setting, be ready for anything in the live music realm.  It could be a high school jazz band with their first big gig out in public.  Or Swedish techno pop with synthesizers.  Or a jazz trio (piano/bass/drums).  Funk (Earth, Wind and Fire anyone??).  Last night it was gypsy jazz in celebration of what would have been Jean “Django Reinhardt’s 105th birthday.  Never had heard of him to be honest, but by the time the night was over I was hooked.  I truly felt transformed back to the 1930s, what was Django’s heyday.  The musicians were dressed in character…and how awesome to see a lot of people dressed for dancing (nice dresses, suits, hats, dancing shoes)…doing everything from waltz to jitterbug.  I’m ready to sign up for lessons!

Cooking Classes…Basque Style!

21 Sunday Sep 2014

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Flag_of_the_Basque_Country_svgWow.  Just WOW.  I recently discovered an absolute jewel of a French store with cooking classes in the wonderfully eclectic Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill, just east of downtown.

It’s Paris Eastside.  What a treasure this place is!  Everything inside is from France or is authentic to the French lifestyle.  The owner, Muriel, is a delightfully charming French woman who will welcome you like family when you arrive. After years teaching French cooking to English speaking tourists in Paris, she moved to Bellevue, Washington where she lives with her family…and has recreated the cooking school experience she taught in France now in Seattle!

Yesterday’s class was authentic Basque cooking.  The Basque region consists of two autonomous communities – one in northern Spain and the other in southern France just adjacent to it.  If you haven’t heard of this region or its unique peoples, language and culture I highly recommend taking a closer look.  [And never, ever call a Basque person Spanish as an aside!]  Yikes.  Although you will certainly notice both Spanish and French influences in the food and lifestyle.

Not only was the class ambience amazing with wonderful people (we were a small, intimate group of just 7 of us cooking with Muriel), but we also had a gloriously sunny, late summer day outside without a cloud in the sky, along with those long shadows and a slightly crispy feeling in the air letting you know Fall is mere days away.  So the shop doors stayed open as we cooked, letting the sunshine and fresh air pour in.  That plus the busy sounds of the city (cars, people talking and passing) and it was just magical.  Being in an intimate oasis mere steps from the hustle and bustle outside.

WP_000606We made 3 recipes – Piperade basque, a pepper dish which is like a very elegant egg scramble (although light on the proportion of eggs as you can see), served on a sliced baguette and topped with a little prosciutto.  Doesn’t that look wonderful?  Mmmm hmmm.

We also made Axoa (that’s “uh CHO uh”), a meat dish with cubed veal, peppers and ground Espelette pepper.  Sure, you could substitute another type of ground chili pepper, but it won’t have the unique flavor that this one does.  Ground Espelette pepper is fairly mild with a distinctive, warm tomato-y aroma and taste.  Nice to enhance the flavors of the dish, without being overwhelming or too hot and spicy.

Now, veal is a little hard to come by and for many it’s a hot-button, shunned food for lots of reasons.  So, we made a separate batch with cubed chicken as well, and each person in the class got to choose whether they wanted to try theirs with the veal or with the chicken.  I chose both to compare.  I haven’t eaten veal since I was a kid so I had forgotten it has such a nice, rich flavor, but I went for it…after all, “when in Rome,” right?.  And I gotta say, the veal version far outshined the chicken!

We started making the dessert first (Gâteau Basque – Basque cake), given it was the most time-intensive to prepare and needed 45 minutes to fully cook.  Oh yeah, that’s one dense cake alright!  With a wonderful crème filling of eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla…oh yeah we’re not here to skimp on the best ingredients or on calories here, people!  This is a rich dessert, so just a small wedge is all you need with a side of cherry jam.

A shared bottle of wine and relaxed conversation wrapped up our cooking experience.  Definitely going back again for sure!  Afterwards we headed down to Olympic Sculpture Park on the Seattle waterfront.  The sunshine was endless and sparkled on the water…watching the ferry boats going back and forth to Bainbridge Island, and the enormous cruise ships on their way up to Alaska.  Mount Rainier out clear as a bell, and lots of interesting and fascinating outdoor sculptures in the park.  When you truly relax and open your mind and drink in all the pleasures and scenery around you, you feel ALIVE.  At peace.  Balanced. And in the present.  How wonderful to have this park just steps from downtown!

By the time dinner rolled around lighter fare was in order.  Grilled salmon and sliced, grilled white eggplant (a first for me to try!) was just perfect.  And why not cap off the night with a trip to the Royal Room in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood for some live jazz and a nightcap?

Works for me.

Changes, Celebrated Outdoors!

14 Sunday Sep 2014

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I sit here, smiling, relishing how wonderful the last few weeks have been.  Summer’s doing a hard-core sprint to the official finish line and boy does she deliver.  We’re sunny and in the 80s during the day and it’s fantastic.  I make sure to squeeze in 20 minutes or so to enjoy the sunshine during the workday with a walk around the campus Commons, and I usually get a walk/light jog on Sundays down to Juanita Beach, just a couple of miles from my house.  That plus my regular gym workouts and I’m definitely keeping my “tanks” full.

BIG changes are on the way…after a tumultuous spring getting abruptly cut from my job, networking like crazy for another one (my current one)…I’ve found The One.  Yes, I’m leaving behind eight years of contracting and have accepted a full-time permanent job offer with a company in downtown Seattle.  Yes…DOWNTOWN!  The city girl in the suburbs for the last 17 years will get her downtown fix once again!

And I feel so happy.  And CALM.  THIS is the right next move for my career.  Contracting has provided so much experience and has really sharpened my work and people skills, but it’s not for me long-term.  Some people have wondered why I’m not screaming and jumping up and down – ?  Well shit, this feels so right it’s just centered me.  I feel happy, relaxed and balanced.  Glowing and content.  I truly adore my current group of co-workers.  Awesome people, hard working…and they make the time for a few good laughs.  Sounds like a great combo doesn’t it? Yep, it sure is. But, they’re not my Tribe.

Now that I’ve given my two weeks notice (which went smoothly, just as expected), I’ve got plenty to do to get things wrapped up and transitioned.  So it’s nice keeping busy in the interim. [I’m not a good slacker – this I’ve learned over the decades of working].

I peeked at my calendar and thought “oohhhhh my goodness.”  My last day with my current job is right smack on the Autumnal Equinox.  I LOVE the changing seasons, and the Equinoxes are glorious times to make changes.  Delicious.  Coincidence?  Hmmm…not sure.  But I do know there are NO accidents.

Meanwhile, lots of great stuff has been happening outdoors!  Check out my Labor Day post recapping a wonderful weekend of hiking and road tripping.  And great music!  I haven’t had a whopping dose of live music like this in years.  Couple outdoor concerts at the Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville.  Earth Wind & Fire back in late August, and Crosby Stills & Nash just last night!  If you haven’t experienced an outdoor concert at Ste. Michelle, add it to your Bucket List NOW.  It’s an amazing experience.  Just bring a blanket and some munchies, picnic-style, and find your spot on the lawn near the stage.  Pick up a bottle of wine from the stands nearby and you’re all set.  The evening started with an absolutely clear blue sky overhead, dotted with a few hot air balloons floating around…then to twinkling stars and a little chill in the air that tells you summer’s winding down. [Bring a sweatshirt!] Add in musical legends on stage and you’ve got a recipe for pure Bliss right there.

Damn it feels good to be moving on.  On from a career chapter that’s writing its final words right now.  Soon to be put in the vault forever.  Not ever entirely forgotten, for there is so much to remember and savor…but finished.

I’m ready.

What a Weekend!!

03 Saturday May 2014

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Holy crap…she’s blogging on a SATURDAY – GAH!!!  Hey everyone, well yowza it’s been a few weeks since my last post…and the time felt like NOW to do one, so here I am!

Ever have a weekend with nothing going on and yet you still feel exhausted when Monday rolls around and it’s time to go back to work?  And on the flip side…a weekend so jam-packed just reading the schedule makes you feel tired…but afterwards you feel so REFRESHED and INVIGORATED??   Last weekend was one of those weekends.  My head spun at the thought of all we were going to pack into one day. A Sunday.  But afterwards I felt like a new woman and 10 years younger!

So what happened?  Well, my coach in the Lean Eating for Women program I started last July came up to Seattle to see her Seattle-area clients!  She and I Skype occasionally (she lives in the Lake Tahoe area), and she sends us videos every week with encouragement for us and some info on what’s coming up in the week ahead.  And we all belong to a private Facebook group. So I felt like I already ‘knew’ D beforehand…and I was so excited to finally see her in person!

We had a huge lineup of activities planned, from eating out to various fitness-related stuff (of course!) and people would just show up to what they wanted to do depending on their weekend schedules.  Friday night we toasted the weekend ahead with dinner at Matt’s in the Market in Seattle.

SeaScallopsTalk about an iconic location…Matt’s is right at the main entrance to the Pike Place Market, up a couple of flights of stairs. Your visit to Seattle isn’t complete without a walk through the bustling market – people, food, art, music, shopping…it’s all there!  And Matt’s is kitty corner from the famous City Fish Company, where the guys throw the fish back and forth to each other while they’re working.

Check out my dinner…YUM…that is a glorious meal of sea scallops with peas, pea puree, Thumbelina carrots and ham hock.  Absolutely outstanding!!  We then walked the Pike Hill Climb and had dessert at some cool place that starts with an “A” and for the life of me I can’t remember it.  Funny.

Some of the group met up Saturday morning for a bike ride from downtown Seattle where D was staying out to Discovery Park. I didn’t have a bike and didn’t really feel like renting one…plus I decided I really needed to just rest and do some food prep for the week ahead.  Ahhh, a perfect choice!

Because then there was Sunday.  Sunday April 27.  A day I faced two of my fears head on:  my fear of ladders and my fear of heights.  I haven’t really done any posts about fear because I try to keep things light and somewhat humorous in here, but ladders and heights do give me the willies.  Hell, I don’t even like getting up on a step stool in my kitchen!

So what did I do to face these fears?  See for yourself!!

Yes, I climbed up a 28′ ladder, jumped off a platform and swung on a trapeze!!!  Holy crap!

One of the women in our Seattle group suggested doing a trapeze class together – and when I heard about it I had the same rush and whoosh feeling as when I was asked if I wanted to try learning to play hockey years ago.  I KNEW I was going to do it, despite feeling freaked out!

We met up Sunday morning at SANCA Seattle, the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts.  Who knew there even was such a place?  Along with the huge circus tent where we had the trapeze class, there was another building where they teach tumbling for kids and adults and other circus-type stuff.  I was fascinated beyond belief!  And the instructors were incredible.  So happy and cheery…and they know their shit.  We did some warm up exercises together and they talked through the whole process from climbing the ladder to dismounting off the safety net we would land on.  I was getting so nervous that I was having a hard time remembering everything they were saying, but I figured they’d repeat it anyway when it was our turn to jump and swing!

Safety of course is paramount through all of this.  From the time you step on the first ladder rung to your dismount off the safety net and back on the ground you have safety lines attached to you.  You put on a belt cinched very tight which has several large rings to hook your lines on.  Once you get to the top of the ladder onto the platform, an instructor is up there to switch out your lines to the ones for your jump and swing.

And that platform up there is not very big.  I’m sure the “holy fuck” look on my face when I got off the ladder an onto the platform was epic.  The guy up there looked about 18 and was kind of short. And I’m thinking “YOU’RE going to help me do this??”  But the guy was great…and strong with Popeye forearms!  He stood behind me while I stood with my toes hanging over the edge of the platform.  I was gripping a short ladder like structure with my left hand and LEANING FORWARD with my hips forward.  This is what you do while they pull the trapeze bar to you with a giant hook.  Believe me, this is THE most unnatural and counterintuitive way to stand ever!!  GAH!!

They tell you ahead of time that “the bar’s going to feel heavy,” when they pull it to you and you grab it with your right hand.  And ummmm, hello, that was the understatement of the century!  That fucker is HEA-VY!  But the guy behind me held me in place.  My heart was pounding.  I probably forgot to breathe too.  Then I grabbed the bar with my left hand and waited for the command to jump from the other instructor on the ground.

“READY….HEP!!”  We learned that ‘hep’ is circus talk for ‘go.’  Why don’t they say “go”??  Well, in the tent with the acoustics and everything, ‘go’ can sound like ‘no,’ which is not a good thing.  With this kind of activity there is no room for ambiguity!  Well, there was a few seconds delay after my ‘hep’ before I got the courage to take my feet off the bar.  I had this weird sensation that if I did that I would drop straight down and hit my head on the platform!  Strange!  Well, there is no way that could happen because the bar is so heavy it pulls you away from the platform very quickly.

What a rush!!!  Oh my GOD…it was both frightening and exhilarating at the same time!  I DID IT!!  In fact, I got 4 jumps in during our session (there were 7 of us, including two kids, and they had the order written on a chalkboard so we each got an equal amount of turns).  In the exercise I did you’re supposed to bring your legs up and swing by your knees, get back up and then do the backflip dismount.  But I’ll try that again next time.

Yes, I said “next time!!!”

After that we changed our clothes and headed up to Whole Foods in downtown Seattle to grab lunch.  We figured that was easiest so we could just grab whatever we wanted and eat it in the store.  Then we walked a few blocks to the Chihuly Garden and Glass  exhibit at the Seattle Center!  Long gone is the old Fun Forest amusement park (anyone else have great memories of that place as a kid?)…now it’s Chihuly.  Beautiful glass sculpture and wonderfully unique installations of glass art outside intermingled with real plants.

Meanwhile, D wanted to know if anyone wanted massages.  She had found a cheap place on Yelp where it was something like $25 for a 45-minute foot massage.  What?  That sounds almost criminal.  Well, we decided to go for it so she made reservations for us.

Here’s where it gets interesting and funny.  D says “well, can we walk there too?”  After learning that this massage place was in the International District I laughed and said nope…that’s clear at the other end of town!  So, we drove! Hey, why not give D a mini tour of Seattle neighborhoods meanwhile, right?

We headed into the Pacific Rim Center, a sparsely filled out indoor mall with a rather strange vibe and energy to it.  Maybe it’s because I was somewhere I’d never been before…in my hometown.  Maybe it was because D and the rest of us were the only 4 Caucasian people in the massage place.  And maybe it was the weirdness of walking into a sea of massage chairs just out in the open.  And the silence.  Everyone was fully-clothed (whew)…but was this one of those “happy ending” places??  Yikes.

Ever have a foot massage that starts with your scalp? Nope, me neither…until that afternoon.  And the guy doing my massage was about my Dad’s age I’m guessing.  Just an overall very odd experience.  I had my clothes on with a towel draped over me so it wasn’t feeling creepy, but still was weird.  And this massage…holy crap I still have bruises a week later around my knees and on my forearms and thighs!  I don’t remember it hurting too much (would have said something) so I was shocked that I am still looking like a domestic violence victim or bondage lover even a week later!

We finished off the evening with dinner at Purple in downtown Seattle.  Great, relaxing food and a huge wine selection too.  We laughed as we reminisced about the day – such a random mix of stuff we did…IN ONE DAY!  And I laughed too thinking that WOW, of everything we did that Sunday, going to Purple was the ONLY thing I’d ever done before!

There’s so much more to my hometown, Seattle, that I’ve yet to explore and discover.  And how cool it took a visitor from out-of-town to make it all happen.  Bliss.

The Active Equinox

23 Sunday Sep 2012

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Welcome, Autumn!  And welcome Spring to my southern hemisphere readers!  The season changes are such a sensuous time of the year. Along with obvious changes like the longer shadows during the day, a slight chill in the air and a longing to put away the sandals and rock my fall shoes and boots, I truly believe – if you breathe really deeply into the Universe – that you can FEEL the change.  The vibration shift.  The motions that are perhaps unconscious to us but are all around us.

I remember watching the Cosmos TV series (on PBS) as a young teen.  This was a special Sunday night ritual with my Dad (my Mom didn’t seem too interested in it).  While much of what Carl Sagan talked about was too complex for my young mind to understand, it stirred something within me.  As if to say that seeds were planted – you might not understand everything now, fivenineteen, but your curiosity will grow throughout your life with an ongoing hunger to learn.

One of his segments talked about motion – how even if we appear to be still, we are not.  I may be standing still on the ground, but the ground is not motionless.  The Earth is turning on its axis.  The Earth is revolving around the Sun.  Our solar system is cruising along in some random outer arm of our galaxy (or perhaps in and out of galaxy arms – some say that is the reason for our planet’s Ice Ages)…AND our whole galaxy is whooshing through the universe too!  To where I have no idea.  Or how fast.  All of this is mind-blowing to me when I try to make sense of it all.  And believe me, Carl Sagan explained those last few sentences far better and far more eloquently than I ever could.

So, I made some of my own tiny motions into the Universe this weekend – both mentally and physically.  My resume was overdue for an update, and it felt good to sit for a few hours and really focus on capturing my latest work activities.  It’s funny, for as much as I love to write, I sometimes run into writer’s block about my career.  How can it be so hard to summarize my latest accomplishments and job responsibilities into a few short sentences and bullet points?  I’m much better at speaking about it than writing about it, resume-style.  The work I’ve done over the past year and a few months is something I’m so very proud of.  And my team is dynamite – I truly, truly believe that NO ONE ever does it alone and that many helping hands make the load lighter.  This team embraces and breathes this same philosophy as well, and it shows.  It’s not lip service.  It’s something practiced constantly.  I know this work engagement is ending to free me up for my next opportunity (and also for practical reasons, such as the budget for my role runs out later this year), and it’s like stepping off with a leap of faith that the right next step WILL happen.  I’ve been through this cycle a few times over the past 6 years and I feel better taking that next unknown leap now that the job market has improved somewhat compared with the 2009-2010 era.

That was Saturday.  Man it felt so good to just breathe and savor the change of seasons.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful.  Plus I was able to get my car emissions test done on Friday afternoon (part of the requirement to get new license tabs), rather than gobble up part of a cherished Saturday driving a ways out to the site and waiting in line.  Ugh.  It’s a necessary thing to do but the car emission test site is one of those evil vortexes where time slows to a painful crawl.  Same with the oil change places too!

And Sunday I joined my dear friend T and her friend D (whom I’ve met once before) and D’s adorable chocolate Lab, Lucy, to walk in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s Pacific Northwest benefit!  This was an easy, relaxing, two-mile walk along South Lake Union, north of the downtown Seattle core.  This walk raised over $280,000 for Alzheimer’s research!  T, D and I learned in chatting that we had each lost a grandmother to Alzheimer’s, so this was an especially important cause for each of us personally.  T is also on the Seattle board – so proud of her generous donation of time and talent, especially having just started a new (unrelated) full-time job herself! 

Now, if you haven’t been around the South Lake Union area recently, you’re in for quite a wonderful surprise.  The area is transforming.  Beautifully.  Sure, there is some temporary pain, such as crazyass road closures, maze-like swirls of lanes blocked off and general confusion, especially for someone like me who tends to drive past this neighborhood rather than have it as a destination.  I’m so glad today’s Alzheimer’s Walk showed me just how beautiful a transformation this is, and it stirs up my hunger again to someday live and work in Seattle proper, rather than the suburbs where I currently call home.

I was a little bleary and tired when the three of us met up for our carpool (there’s that darn ol’ ‘not a morning person’ flaw again), but by the time we were ready to walk and walking I felt more energized.  The sun was out but not too strong given the time of year, the lake was beautiful, people dressed in purple were everywhere (the color for Alzheimer’s awareness) and it was nice to savor this part of Seattle on foot.  Honestly I tend to just drive and whiz through the South Lake Union area or more recently avoid it all together given all the construction and transformation underway.  So it was fun to see the lake, the Kenmore Air seaplanes taking off and landing and the view of Gasworks Park (my very first apartment after college graduation was just up the hill from it – dumpy apartment but great views – you have to start somewhere!)

On my way home I felt on a roll and made a beeline to my gym (where my trainer, B, is kicking my ass every Wednesday night).  I had made a commitment to get in the gym Sunday nights, but I had a party to go to, so I figured why not get some more gym time in while I’m feeling good and on a roll from a fun but not too-strenuous-walk earlier? 

I think I’m going to be addicted soon to the rowing machine.  What a nice change from the treadmill.  I love how it relaxes tension in the upper back and shoulders.  It just feels like more of a full-body workout than the treadmill, and I truly appreciate B showing me the basics on how to use it, from the resistance settings, the “10 and 2” rocking motion back and forth (as in 2:00 forward and all the way back to 10:00 and so on) to getting your feet placed properly in the grips.  I rowed 2000m (1 mile and 427 yards) in 12 minutes!  My goal is to get up to 5000m at a stretch.  I also did some weight and lunge work, lat pulldowns, plus the somewhat-evil hamstring strengthener using a fitness ball for resistance.  Yep, I think I will be feeling all of this tomorrow for sure.

And I topped off the weekend with a party with my hockey teammates at our co-founder’s soon-to-be-second new donut shop!  It was great to see everyone and share a few laughs and hugs.  I love these guys like brothers and/but know my decision to take this season off is the best one for me.  I was happy that they were open to having me come back next summer season.  It’s never guaranteed – I don’t take that for granted – but it is nice it might be an option for next spring.  It will all depend on where I am at that point and if I really, truly miss the ice and the game of hockey after my break.  I have a feeling I will.

While I appreciated the food (and donuts!) provided at the party, I kept it to just one slice of Canadian bacon pizza and one beer. 

After all, I’m proud of the progress I’m making physically.

Back Home…with (New) Home Cookin’…

28 Saturday Jul 2012

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On Monday night I arrived back home after a stupendously glorious 5 days in Kansas City, MO!  More about that trip in tomorrow’s post!  Oh man, hot weather, sunshine, lots of great friends and bling (and, ahem, hot cowboys)…umm…yes that’s for tomorrow’s posting goodness.

I’ve been in a whirly whirlwind since getting back home.  Had such a great time, but I missed a good, home-cooked meal…as much as the food on the road was amazing.  This past week back at work has been quick pasta-and-pesto dinners, exhausted, at home. 

So today I wanted to not only REALLY cook something fun at home, but also try something local and new.

Enter The Pike Place Market Cookbook, which I picked up on Amazon a few days before leaving town.  And here it was in my mailbox when I got home!  This cookbook was published in 2003 and while some of the merchants and vendors have come and gone since this book came out, the spirit, energy and passion of the Pike Place Market is as strong as ever.  And why not try a new recipe with something that rings of “home”?

Garlic fans, unite!  This is a delicious recipe for Chicken Adobo.  Silly me I thought ‘adobo’ meant American southwest style food.  Nope!  This is Filipino style and you’ll want to soak up every last bit of the sauce with your rice or just a good old spoon!  The pic in this post is of the chicken basking in the sensational marinade after several hours in the fridge and just before sautéing it.  No, it wasn’t cooking on the stove top in a Ziploc bag…horrors!

Serves 4-6 as an entrée, or 6-8 as a side dish.  ** Requires marinating **

  • 1/2 C Philippine coconut vinegar or distilled white vinegar
  • 1/2 C Philippine soy sauce or Japanese soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp garlic salt
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
  • Kosher salt to taste
  • 3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed, PLUS 2-3 T minced garlic
  • 2 lbs chicken parts (legs, thighs, or breasts with ribs)
  • 2-3 T peanut or corn oil

In a large bowl or resealable plastic bag, combine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic salt, bay leaves, pepper, salt and the 3 or 4 crushed garlic cloves.  Add chicken parts and marinate in refrigerator several hours or (preferably) overnight.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 T of the oil.  When hot, add the 2 or 3 T minced garlic and stir-fry until lightly browned.  Remove fried garlic and reserve.

Add the remaining 1 or 2 T of oil to skillet over medium heat.  Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry, reserving marinade.  Add chicken parts to skillet and cook 10 to 20 minutes, or until well browned on all sides and completely cooked through.  The final cooking time will depend on the types of chicken parts you choose. (If using large chicken breasts, you can cover the pan to speed the cooking process.)  Remove chicken parts to a clean platter and set aside.

Slowly add reserved marinade to pan drippings to make gravy, stirring constantly and scraping up the bits on bottom of pan.  Once all the marinade has been added, reduce sauce to the desired consistency.  Add chicken to gravy, stir thoroughly and heat through.

To serve, divide chicken and gravy among dinner plates, then garnish with fried garlic.

Really try to use peanut oil in this recipe…it has wonderful flavor, is super healthy and is a nice alterative from olive oil!

Buon appetito!

Singing the Tom Douglas Praises…again

01 Sunday Apr 2012

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Along with other Seattle treasures like Starbucks, Nordstrom, Microsoft, Amazon, hiking, boating and skiing literally in our back yard, lush green, beautiful mountains and a few decent professional sports teams…we have Chef Tom Douglas.  He and his wife, Jackie, are the owners of five restaurants:  Dahlia Lounge, Etta’s, Palace Kitchen, Lola, and Serious Pie, all in downtown Seattle.  You simply cannot talk about great food in Seattle without mentioning Tom!  Now, I have yet to try Lola and Serious Pie, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Dahlia Lounge, Etta’s and the Palace Kitchen.  I smile and remember grabbing brunch at Etta’s one morning with friends and walking up a few blocks to catch a matinee performance of the symphony at Benaroya Hall.  A blissful Seattle day!  This was a few years ago, and I remember it was hard finding restaurants downtown that were open for breakfast or brunch.  So a walk down to Etta’s it was.  I hear Lola has an incredible breakfast.  Definitely on the to-try list.

I was suprised to learn that he’s originally from Delaware!  His dishes capture Pacific Northwest flavors to a T; his signature is using fresh, local ingredients to put a fresh twist on a classic dish.  Charred ahi tuna with pasta puttanesca anyone?  This is next on my list to make…I’m curious how the tuna will taste with a pungent puttanesca sauce!

I was definitely craving some food variety this weekend and that’s a good sign.  I’ve been a little run down…not with a flu or cold or anything I could put my finger on.  Just tired.  And not really motivated to cook.  When I get home from work and am exhausted it’s all I can do to whip up some pasta and pesto…my own form of comfort food.  But even that gets boring after awhile.

So this weekend it was off to the grocery store.  I thumbed through Tom’s Seattle Kitchen cookbook, savoring the wonderful ingredients and the stories behind the recipes, looking for inspiration on what to cook.  Sometimes I like to play a game with myself and just randomly pick a page in a cookbook and THAT’S what I’ll be making for dinner that night.  Ooops…not up to making a dish with octopus in it, so I kept flipping the pages.

Then I found it:  a clam linguine recipe with pancetta, jalapenos and garlic.  See what I mean about a fresh twist on a classic?  Never would have thought about pairing up jalapenos with clams.  But it sounded intriguing!  And delicious!  Then I realized I had some shrimp that needed to be used up soon in my fridge and decided to use that instead of clams.  Now, normally when I try something for the first time I follow the recipe pretty much exactly as written and then make my own notes on what to tweak.  But the shrimp won out.  I’m sure Tom won’t mind.

Here’s a confession:  I absolutely adore grocery shopping.  Roaming the aisles, wondering what wonderful dishes are just dying to come out of all these wonderful foods.  Looking at the spices and wondering what else I need to add to my collection.  Cheeses, vegetables, wines…fantastic, glorious food!  Now I’m sure I would feel differently about grocery shopping if I had kids to feed.  Might be more of a chore than a joy.  Sure, we all need to eat, but for me being single with no kids, grocery shopping is an adventure.  Yep, I’m a true Taurus…I LOVE my food and take it damn seriously.  But not so serious to also have a little humor and play around with it.  Try new things!  Take risks!  The food isn’t going to bite you. 

There are a lot of ingredients, but this goes together quickly – serves 4

  • 2 jalapenos, cut in half and seeded
  • 1/4 C olive oil, plus more for brushing
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 ox pancetta, diced (1/2 C)
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
  • 2 lbs clams, scrubbed and rinsed
  • 1/4 C dry white wine
  • 1 lb linguine
  • 1/4 C unsalted butter
  • 4 tsp chopped, fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 3 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tsp grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 C fresh, flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/4 C shaved parmesan cheese
  • 4 lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Start a pot of salted water boiling to cook the pasta later.  Brush the jalapeno halves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10 minutes.  When cool enough to handle, dice finely.

Put a large saute pan over medium high heat. Heat 1/4 C olive oil, add the pancetta and cook, stirring, until browned, about 2 minutes.  Add the jalapeno, garlic and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, another minute. Turn the heat to high.  Add the clams and wine and cover. Cook until the clams open, about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the boiling water until al dente.  Add the butter, chopped parsley, lemon juice and zest to the clams in the pan and toss until the butter melts into the sauce.  Drain the pasta.

In a large serving bowl, toss the pasta with the clam sauce and whole parsley leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

NOTE:  feel free to put Parmesan on this dish, despite the Italian thing about “no cheese with fish.”  Use grated cheese or make Parmesan curls with a potato peeler. Make sure the clams mostly end up on top of the pasta, facing up.  Move them around with tongs if you need to. Discard any unopened clams.  Garnish with lemon wedges.

This is absolutely delicious…even substituting shrimp for the clams!  Now, as I’ve always said (and learned the hard way awhile back), be sure to read a recipe all the way through before you start.  A recipe is not a mystery novel with a surprise ending!  You don’t want to get caught with your pants down getting ingredients prepared only to then read, “Cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.”  Oops…you’ll be ordering pizza for dinner probably instead.   So when I read about roasting the jalapenos in the oven, I laughed a little.  Is it ridiculous to heat up a whole oven to 400 degrees to just roast four small jalapeno halves?  Answer:  YES.  Does it really make a difference?  YES.  Be sure to take the time to roast the peppers…the flavor would be totally different if they had been just thrown into the saute pan uncooked.  So trust me (and Tom) on this.

Buon appetito!