Brazil - Volume 1

Brazil is wonderful. Warm, slightly humid weather. Amazing food. Excellent drinks. Picturesque, in that beautiful scenery sense that is only possible on a beach.

The trip started a bit bumpy - I arrived, despite a cancelled flight, my luggage did not. Note to all traveling in the third-world: unless you go to the airport to collect your bag, no one cares whether your bag has been delivered. Alas, all is well, United will be paying for a few new sexy dresses and most importantly, my bathing suit, clean underwear and the tequila and triple sec arrived intact.

A few highlights thus far:

Moqueca: A traditional Bahian dish, with a base of coconut milk, a few veggies and fish and seafood, cooked with dende oil, the African/Bahian equivalent of our olive oil, but from palm, not olives. The dish is served with rice, a pasty, slightly starchy side and manioc, a flour that serves to bind the flavors together. Much like ceviche a year ago in Panama, I've made it my mission to taste moqueca at various locales throughout my stay.

Aracaje: The ultimate street food, aracaje is fritter fried in dende oil, slice open, stuffed with hot sauce, a few sides (including that same starchy side served with moqueca) and baby briney shrimp, and then eaten like a sandwich. Sooo tasty and good.

Meat. The churasco is impressive and abundant. Boi Preto is the best in Salvador. The huge salad bar, which is a salad bar in name only, features everything from sushi to cooked dishes to cheese to almost anything else. Several waiters are constantly in circulation, each ready to carve a different cut of beef, chicken, pork or fish for you instantly. The meat is amazing; the very nature of grass fed and no hormones means that the meat tastes as it should really taste, rich and succulent and delicious.

Capirinhas: I've been drinking this sugar cane alcohol, cacacia, at almost every opportunity. In its pure form, it's undrinkable. Mixed with fresh limes and sugar into a capirinha, it is amazing, refreshing, tangy and a bit potent. Bruno, my favorite beach bartender/caretaker, makes the best in the city.

More as the trip goes on.

Thanksgiving at the Ancestral Estate

Thanksgiving was at the Olhava's in Napa this year. The location should impress you, or not, if you know me and have heard stories of what I call the "ancestral estate".



Ed and I cooked dinner, a process that began the day before. Much of dinner was similar to the previous year, with the brined turkey, buttery stuffing and rich gravy. I made two types of cranberry sauce, a sweet sauce slightly modified from the directions on the back of the package and savory cranberry chutney. Other dishes: brussel sprouts, steamed, then roasted with garlic and olive oil; mashed sweet potatoes; and buttermilk mashed potatoes. I made ginger spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert (notice the spider webs) and Jan brought two different types of pumpkin pie.



I think my favorite part of the meal was stuffing soaked with the buttery and rich gravy. Soooo utterly delicious.

It,Aeos worth noting a few other food items from my few days in Napa. I ducked out of a funeral reception to eat at the taqueria around the corner ,Aei Las Platas ,Aei which was absolutely fantastic. Just so that you all don't think that I'm heartless, I knew very few people at the funeral, I really wanted Mexican and the clock was ticking down, and while the cold cuts would have been delicious, a fabulous Napa taqueria was around the corner. I inhaled a pork enchilada with red sauce and shrimp enchilada with green sauce, practially crying. I so miss good Mexican food. Mom also bought homemade tamales from somewhere, which were great snacks. Again, more delicious Mexican food.

The night before Thanksgiving, we ate raviolis and malfattis from Lawler,Aeos, a Napa market famous for its homemade Italian food, liquor selection and for rent adult video collection.

Again, be impressed. I was in Napa.

A Housewarming!

I keep moving, which means several housewarming parties. And since I,Aeod been in the Vertigo long enough to unpack my boxes, paint at least one wall and make it feel like home, it was time.

Usually, I spend the day cooking, preparing food, arranging trays, making drinks. Time was short, and I made an executive decision: I ordered trays from Whole Foods. This was definitely a good idea - the food was delicious, and while I still spent time in the kitchen, the party prep wasn,Aeot as stressful as it has been in the past (even though Carrie and Pete may disagree with that statement). And, since Carrie was in town, it gave me more time to hang out with her (until I think I gave myself a concussion, but that,Aeos a whole other story).

I did make dessert: chocolate cupcakes with coffee frosting, chocolate chip cookies (from Elizabeth Falkner,Aeos new and excellent Demolition Desserts) and almond cookies. Carrie assembled the requisite cheese tray and a I threw a warm artichoke dip in the oven. From Whole Foods, a charcuterie tray, grilled veggies on bread and mushroom skewers with aioli. I also made French 75 cocktails (champagne, gin, lemon, something else), which disappeared in about 5 minutes.

Carrie attempted the newest Cooks Illustrated pie crust involving flour, salt, butter, shortening and vodka from, in order to make her famous caramelized onion and blue cheese tart. It,Aeos always interesting to watch others in the kitchen ,Aei our methods differ, but the end always turns out. Sadly, the pie crust didn,Aeot come together that night, although we did make the tart the next night, and it was simply amazing: layers of flaky pie crust that crunched nicely in the mouth, with the sweet onions and tart blue cheese.

The party was a ton of fun. Cleaning up bottles the next day, I realized that it was a fairly hard drinking crowd. Several bottles of beer, a few bottles of wine, a bottle of vodka, 5 bottles of champagne and some other assorted liquor were consumed. Someone told me that when she left at midnight, it was clear that the party wasn,Aeot ending anytime soon.

Happy Housewarming!

Some Paint

I realized that I'd never posted pictures of the newly painted walls. So far, I'm partially there.

Here's the living room. This is exactly the color that I envisioned when I first purchased the unit. I found a very cool color wheel tool on the Miller Paint web site: it allowed me to input the primary paint chip number, and then spit out various combinations of the complementary colors. It doesn't really show in the picture, but the claret/plum has a lot of blue, so the color scheme is set for the rest of the place.



And here's the entry way, in blue green.



I'm going to paint the kitchen with two different shades of blue. And, I think I am settling on a patterned backsplash tile in blue, green and white, for contrast. I'll probably fill in many walls with a combination of accent colors and soft white, something that has a bit of blue in it. I'm quickly realizing that I dislike the toasted almond color that came with my unit. Color is so much more fun.

Tecnical Issues - Now Resolved

We've had some technical issues over the past few months, something about new servers and snafus and migrations. Richard, my technical knight in shining armor, has fixed everything.

Lots to write about - new entries soon!

Turning 35!

My birthday was at the beginning of this month ,Aei number thirty-five. It was a perfect birthday, truly, in every sense of the word. I flew to San Francisco, and Carrie organized a birthday celebration, with my amazing friends Suzette and Drew, Tricia and James, and Emil.

We started at the Elite Caf/(c), a New Orleans themed restaurant that pulled off Creole and the South so much better than Nola in Palo Alto; limited tack, much elegance and what looked to be very tasty food. I settled into Sidecars, and Carrie ordered a plate of horseradish deviled eggs, the creamy egg yolk spiked with horseradish.

After a quick stop at another bar (can,Aeot remember the name), we hit SPQR for dinner. I was really excited ,Aei the new "it" place in Pac Heights had just opened, run by the same folks behind A16, one of my favorite San Francisco restaurants. The appetizers were good ,Aei shelling beans, sweetbreads, sunchokes and mushrooms, olives and a few others. Sadly, I chose my main dish wrong, one that was primarily oddly shaped pasta mixed with a bit of tomato, tuna and capers; it could have been good, but was just mediocre. Suzette,Aeos calamari was delicious, Drew,Aeos pork was fabulous and Carrie said that her carbonera was also tasty. Win some in the food world, you lose some. The table shared a slightly underwhelming dessert, something resembling a grilled cheese sandwich. A birthday song was required - I made a wish and blew out the candle.

35 is a nice, sturdy, in-the-middle celebratory number. Not like 30 or 40, which tend to be life markers, but still, solid. In the third grade, I had to memorize the multiplication tables, and since, have always been fond of 5 and 7 as multipliers (along with 7 and 8). I thought the equation was pretty to write, pretty to look at, especially once I adopted the European writing standard for 7 (with the line through the stem). I may have been a slightly twisted elementary school student, come to think of it.

I told Aimee - we've known each other since we were 4 - that I realized I was alarmingly close to 40, and am now saying that I need to go to Betty Ford at 50, rather than the previously stated 40th birthday. She wondered where we,Aeove gone wrong, ,AeuI,Aeom pregnant, you,Aeore a drunk,AeP,Aeu Truly something to ponder.

The Bounties of Harvest Vine

Carrie came to visit for a long weekend, in part to see my new home and also meet many friends at the housewarming party. Her flight was delayed by several hours, and to her credit, she managed to spend the time wisely, drinking martinis and catching up on the latest celebrity gossip in the airport bar. I,Aeom so proud.

After arriving, she rallied and we dined at Harvest Vine. I,Aeod been once before, and remember enjoying the meal so very much. My second visit did not disappoint ,Aei it was amazing and I really can,Aeot wait to return.

Small plates kept arriving, each just as delicious and beautifully presented as the last. We began with a charcuterie plate, contained translucent thin slices of Serrano ham, copa, spicy salami and air dried pork. Boquarones, tasty marinated sardines arrived next ,Aei this may have been one of my favorite, if it is possible to choose a favorite. We then went a bit extravagant, with crispy seared scallops atop a bed of caramelized onions and seared foie gras with caramelized pumpkin. For dessert, we shared a square of flakey puff pastry stuffed with almond paste and accompanied by a scoop of vanilla caramel sea salt ice cream; I think that caramel and sea salt is now one of my favorite combinations. A nice tempranillo went well with the meal.

Hump!

A few weeks ago, I found myself sitting next to three friends and surrounded by 200 strangers, watching porn. Not just any porn ,Aei Hump 3, The Stranger,Aeos third annual amateur porn contest. Several very brave and some incredibly creative (and some not so creative) people penned scripts, set up cameras, took off their clothes and well, humped on screen.

Hump was fascinating ,Aei what could have been an hour and a half of hard core porn was actually an hour and half of pure entertainment. It was fun, one of the events that made me think, ,AeuWow. This is excellent. I,Aeom so glad that I came. And I can,Aeot wait to return next year!,Ae? The experience could have been titillating, tinged with shame. Instead, it was a moment of, well, niceness. No one tittered or jeered ,Aei the audience laughed at humorous moments, cringed at cringe worthy moments, and behaved as if we were watching a series of art films. Because really, we were watching a series of art films, only films deserving X ratings.

I categorized the shorts into two categories: hard core, of the been there, seen that type, typical of most available porn; and humorous, clever vignettes that rather than focusing on sex, featured a real story, with actual plot and character development and acting. The sex was really an element of these stories, the pleasure was in the veiled references and symbolism.

It,Aeos probably best not to go into all of the gritty details. But some highlights for all of you, because I know that you are curious:

--My two favorite videos: The Room, couches creatively humping and caught in the act by the cuckolded coat rack; and Queer Safari, a Steve Irwin rip-off set in Woodland Park, all about searching for queers and ending a la Blair Witch. I loved the mating ritual, the dancing ,Aeufag hags,Ae? and final shots with some objects that were, well, awe inspiringly big.

--The hardest of the hard short was split between multiple vignettes , going for an amazingly long period of time and counting us down to the end of the festival. Thank God the Audio Works, indeed.

--Sex on Roller Skates, which was um, exactly what the title says: sex on roller skates. With a great song.

--Lauren Likes Candy made me cringe. A lot.

--I will never look at a bowl of Ivar,Aeos clam chowder, or Ivar,Aeos bobble-head, with any type of innocence ever again.

--It,Aeos good to know that the sculptures were properly cleaned after filming at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

--And the food link, for the spirit of this blog: Zombie Tapioca Lovefest 4000, which featured a bathtub of tapioca. And Ivar,Aeos chowder. As mention, I can no longer look innocently at the chowder. Nor tapioca pudding.

After Hump finished, Dan Savage (a personal hero) destroyed the DVDs, and we filed out of the theater. We talked about our favorite videos. Someone noted that ,AeuIt seemed weird to sit in a theatre and watch porn with other people.,Ae? I pointed out that not that long ago, our only video option was the theaters, surrounded by strangers. It is amazing in how 20 years, an activity that was seen as shameful and smutty is actually accepted as mainstream and artistic. At least in Seattle. I can,Aeot speak for other parts of the country.

The Crud Strikes...Leading to Some Food Reading

When I refused wine after repeated offers, I knew I was sick. A combination of flu and cold knocked me out for about a week; several days later, the cold still lingers, but at least I'm back in form, of the cooking and drinking type.

Illness is an odd state. Long naps, punctuated by TV (I blew through the first season of Arrested Development, so arrestingly delicious) and reading. I finished three Rolling Stones, two Cooks Illustrated's, the September 3 & 10 food-themed New Yorker and the Zen of Fish.

In typical New Yorker fashion, the articles about food were somewhat intellectual, perhaps a bit high-brow, and all interesting.

I was completely and utterly jealous of my friends in Singapore after reading about Singaporean street food, a hodgepodge of various Asian cuisines. I so need to go, to eat.

Adam Gopnik collected ingredients for one meal from the five boroughs of New York: honey from a rooftop beehive in SoHo; forage from a park (lambs-quarter); produce from working farms in Staten Island and Red Hook; tilapia from Brooklyn Community College; and chicken, ostensibly from the Garden of Happiness in the Bronx, but from a Brooklyn slaughterhouse selling imported chicken from upstate. It turns out that the Garden of Happiness refused to slaughter the bird and Gopnik chickened out (pun perhaps intended) on the butchery thing. He also did a great job of describing the history of food and New York, as the area has changed from one almost completely self-sufficient to one, that well, isn't.

Jane Kramer (a favorite New Yorker author) wrote an amazing article about Claudia Roden, who is almost single -handedly responsible for documenting various ethnic recipes, particularly Middle Eastern recipes. She began with Egypt and has branched throughout the region. It isn't unknown for her to conduct thousands of interviews for a cookbook, talking not only to the home cooks, but family members, servants and innocent bystanders, among others. Not surprisingly, Roden is slightly eccentric. I just added The New Book of Mediterranean Cooking to my Amazon wish list.

I had never considered the business of wine forgeries, but learned quite a bit about one particular forger whose actions have rippled throughout the old wines trade. It began with a 1787 Lafitte "ThJ" bottle, in which ThJ was a Thomas Jefferson signature and bottle. The improbability that a real Thomas Jefferson bottle had been "found", plus the appearance of a large number of rare bottles lead to a still pending international investigation centering around the mysterious Hardy Rodenstock. Beyond the fact that Rodenstock was a master mixer of various vintages and varietals (imagine if he was actually doing legit work), in a roundabout way, the author also questioned the value of wine experts and their judgements of quality and authenticity. It did remind me - wine is a very personal taste. While we almost always agree on what is good, excellent, bad, these opinions are colored with shades of gray.

The Zen of Fish was about sushi, anchoring the story around a rather hare-brained, but determined student at a sushi school in LA, within a bigger framework of the history of sushi in Japan and the U.S. The author also providing a primer on the "correct" way of eating sushi. Not surprisingly, Americans get it wrong. Among the most interesting fact: fish as we know it will be extinct by 2050. Eat up people, eat up. Another point to ponder: American sushi chefs may be the beacon of keeping traditional sushi preparation and skills alive as the Japanese migrate away from tradition to American sushi habits. Interesting, but if I consider the history of sushi, change and evolution is a constant. History and traditions are important, but flexibility allowing change and evolution lead to new traditions, reflecting the times and interests. New combinations of food, taste and the all important umami have enabled sushi to continue growing in popularity, spawning new traditions amongst the new eaters.

My sushi tradition: Pete and I regularly dine at Hana Sushi on Broadway. The place looks like a cafeteria, but the food is solid and good. And we always have the same conversations: "are we getting too much food? Nah, we'll eat it...oh my gosh, we ordered that much?...I can't believe we ate that much". We have forged our own sushi tradition.

Sierra Nevada - Anniversary Ale

Sierra Nevada just released their anniversary ale - a nice ale, not too complex, but not too flat. It has a nice and rounded flavor, slightly nutty and not too hoppy. I really enjoyed it. Even Loren, who typically sticks with the "lighter" beers (Bud, Coors, etc.) enjoyed the beer.

I'm not sure exactly which anniversary the good folks in Chico are celebrating; the dates on the label say 1980 to 2007, meaning that they're exactly 27 years old.

Good to know that Sierra Nevada is legal.

Borrowed...

This isn't necessarily related to food and drink. Something kind of fun that didn't take long to write, from jennidallas.

BTW, I have a couple of half-written entries and a fairly open weekend, so should be posting stuff soon. Including a pic of my newly painted living room - hurrah!

1. your rock star name (first pet & first car): Star Sentra

2. your gansta name (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Mint Chip Chocolate Chip (that is the ice cream and the cookie)

3. your ,Aeufly girl"? name (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): SOlh (which makes better sense than my work alias, schellol)

4. your detective name (fav color, fav animal): Blue Dog

5. your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born): Marie Napa

6. your Star Wars name (first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first): Olhsc (how do you pronounce, Ohl-shick? That sounds slightly dirty)

7. superhero name (the? + 2nd fav color, fav drink): The Pink Cosmopolitan

8. nascar name (the first names of your grandfathers): Dooly Leo (technically, Grandpa Luttrell's first name was James, but he always went my Dooly. Both grandpas would we proud to know that they make up my Nascar name)

9. stripper name ( the name of your fav perfume/cologne/scent, fav candy): Vanilla Maltball

10. witness protection name (mother,Aeos & father,Aeos middle names ): Jean Leon

11. tv weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher,Aeos last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Ingalls Istanbul

12. spy name (your fav season/holiday, flower): Winter Gerber Daisy

13. cartoon name (fav fruit, article of clothing you,Aeore wearing right now + ,Aeuie" or ,Aeuy"): Rhubarb Raincoatery (this office is cold)

14. hippy name (what you ate for breakfast, your fav tree): Scone Japanese Maple

15. your rockstar tour name (the + your fav hobby/craft, fav weather element + ,Aeutour"): The Baking Rainstorm Tour

The Gas Grill and the Bar

Within a week, the gas grill and the bar arrived. Both objects are excellent additions to my home. And not ironically, but interestingly, fit within the spirit of this blog perfectly ,Aei musings on food and wine.

First grilled meal: hamburgers. With all of the fixings, of course. Lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, avocados, cheddar and because I like them, saut/(c)ed onions.

First drink from the bar: a cosmo. The bar is stocked, with room for more bottles and glasses.

I'm really excited about having the grill. BBQ just says, well, deliciousness. So many possibilities of what I can make, so many recipes that I'm excited to try. It's been assembled and functional for about a week, and already, I've used it four times. And, it prompted a new purchase: a popcorn popper for the bbq!

I'm also excited about the bar. Not only because it appeals to my inner alcoholic, but it's just so damn cool. It fits into the spirit of the Vertigo, seeming to capture that trendiness and cool of the early 60s era. The bar will be put to good use for the soon-to-be housewarming.

Here is Pete with the grill. He assembled it for me, I think because he knew that in turn, I'd grill him something delicious.



Burgers, the first meal.


The bar. The angle is bad, and since, I've rearranged the furniture. Note the wall decal behind.



The night before flying to Copenhangen for holiday, Aaron came over for dinner. While Pete was assembling the bbq, Aaron artfully arranged the vinyl decals on my wall. I'm still trying to finish it up, namely, the decals aren't sticking to the wall as well as they should. The songbirds (not chickens, Pete) are super cute, nestled in the green branches.

An Incredible Feast

I,Aeove always been impressed by Phinney Ridge. Not only does the neighborhood have El Chupacabra with its fabulous burritos and tasty margaritas AND Red Mill Burgers, it has a strong neighborhood association which produces fabulous events. Last summer, I went to a micro-brew tasting in the Phinney Community Center, an old school house. I was really impressed; the event was clearly for the neighborhood and real beer lovers, rather than the usual former frat boy element of beer festivals. And the selection was an amazing group of high quality micro-brews, plus some tasty treats.

Phinney outdid itself with ,AeuAn Incredible Feast,Ae?. A partnership with Seattle chefs and the Phinney Farmer,Aeos Market, chefs worked with local growers to create dishes, with excellent results. For what I quickly realized was a small fee, we were able to walk around and taste as much as we could eat, selecting from at least 25 different foods (if not more). The chef and farmers were there, to serve the food, talk about the food and overall, promote local farmers. All in all, it was delicious. And, the best part ,Aei the organizers compiled a cookbook, which was included in the price of admission. Yeah!

My Incredible Feast highlights, in no particular order:

Summer Squash Crostini with Smoked Salmon Mousse: The crostini was made with squash, giving it an interesting texture that I didn,Aeot quite expect. It paired well with the smoked salmon mousse,AePbecause after all, what can be better than smoked salmon than to mousse it? It came from Growing Things Farm and Restaurant Eva.

Kasu Jiro Soup with Seared Salmon: From Loki Fish Company and Chiso, the soup was a rich broth of seafood goodness. Reading the recipe, I was surprised that the broth wasn,Aeot made by simmering fish bones and vegetables for several hours, rather, it using dashi as a base, followed by simmering time with a few Japanese vegetables. The flavors were perfectly accented with a piece of seared salmon.

Goat Cheese and Sweet Onion Tartlets: Little tartlets in phyllo cups. Nothing much more needs to be said, except for the fact that I needed to have seconds. The recipe came from Nell,Aeos, the goat cheese from Port Madison Farm.
Zabaglione Semifreddo: Frozen deliciousness, topped with a syrupy raspberry wine. From Rockridge Farms and La Medusa.

Roasted Lamb Salad with Haricots Verts, Cipollini Onions and Citrus Dressing. The name of this dish makes it seem much more complicated than reality. Really, it was a straightforward dish, with perfectly seared rare lamb and a few vegetables, all tangy with the citrus dressing. The lamb came from Sea Breeze Farm, the recipe from Restaurant Zoe. I,Aeom not surprised by this recipe, considering how much much Zoe impressed me.

Chilled Fava Bean Soup with Dungeness Crab and Truffle Oil: I love fava beans, crab and truffle oil, so it,Aeos not really surprising that I loved the combination. The soup was mild and earthy, the crab and truffle oil were an excellent addition of sweet and garlicky earthiness. This was created by Stoney Plains Organic and Oliver,Aeos Twist. I really need to go to Oliver,Aeos Twist.

Steamed Musells and Fennel with Iranian Saffron: I think this was one of my favorite dishes, and am sad that I found the mussell at the end, mainly because I couldn,Aeot really eat more than one. The broth was rich and flavorful, and judging by the recipe, one of those dishes that takes a while to make. This came from Rover,Aeos and Taylor Shellfish.

Roasted Organic Suckling Pig: The roasted pig sat on a giant cutting board, reminding us all that the delicious pulled pork came from a baby pig. It was moist and rich, bursting with spicy pork flavors. Wow. The pig came from Whistling Train Farm; the cooking was supplied by Brasa.

Kara's Cupcakes

If you've been reading my blog more than a few days, you've probably picked up on the theme that I love cupcakes. The perfect dessert - a little cake, a dollop of frosting, what more could you desire?

My newest cupcakery discovery: San Francisco's Kara's Cupcakes.

A few years ago, Jen told me about her friend Kara, who at the time had just launched a special order cupcake business. Appropriately, we were eating cupcakes at Citizen Cupcake at the time. "Kara's are better than these" she promised. Within less than two years, Kara had branched out from a side business and opened two of her own cupcakeries. Since July, I've had a chance to visit Kara's three times, each time just as delicious as the last. I've done the take-out route, bringing cupcakes home with me to Seattle.

For my first visit to Kara's, I enjoyed cupcakes with Rachel, then picked up a dozen for Carrie's birthday surprise; my second visit was between business meetings; the third, I purchased two to carry home with me on the plane, both of which survived the journey quite nicely. I should also point out that the first and second were on the same trip, where over the course of five days in the Bay Area, I had four cupcakes (three from Kara's, one from Citizen Cupcake. I tried for the fifth during dessert at Citizen Cake, but the siren call of a chocolate and beet concoction swayed me. And I don't regret my choice).

My favorite cupcake, not surprising, is the sweet vanilla, a plain cake with a dollop of vanilla buttercream. I also like the lemon, a light lemon cake filled with lemon curd and topped with a lightly flavored lemon frosting. It doesn't matter: every flavor is great. And every cupcake is decorated with a marzipan flower, something to pick off, admire, then bite into for an extra dose of sugariness.

I've had a difficult time deciding if Kara's cupcakes are better than Trophy. Luckily for me, Trophy is in Seattle and Kara's is in San Francisco, so I'll never really HAVE to make a decision.

BTW, my missing box never appeared. Either it was left behind at the Park Rose Terrace in the pile of stuff that I donated to the cleaning people (highly unlikely since I double checked everything in that place) OR someone nabbed the box off of the back of the truck (more likely). Sunday, at Crate and Barrel, after ordering the bar (set to arrive in two weeks!), I did a quick run through the kitchen section, picking up a few necessary items, including a new 12-cup muffin tin and pizza baking stone. I'm still ticked that my apron, baking dish, pot holders, some very nice clothe napkins and half my kitchen towels disappeared. I suppose that it could have been worse: at least the box with my grandma's cast iron dutch oven, which has tremendous sentimental value, didn't disappear. Or the one containing the alcohol. And, importantly, I'm now able to once again bake cupcakes.

A dozen of Kara's cupcakes:



Kara's car, which is absolutely adorable:



And because I know I piqued your curiosity with the description of the Citizen Cake dessert that I chose over the cupcake, I thought that I'd share a picture with you:

"We Are One of Those People"

In my opinion, one of the coolest things about my condo is the murphy bed. It's given me some flexibility - mainly that I don't need a true second bedroom and still have a real guest bed. Also, the idea of a murphy bed is really cool: the bed folds up into the wall. Really, is there anything better than that?

The builders supplied the enclosure; I had to purchase a mattress. And in a hurry - I had been out of town, Rachel was coming in a few days, so time was not on my side.

First stop: Sleep Country, which was closed for "Employee Appreciation Day". The purchase was put off for a day.

Second stop: Costco. While prices were great, I only needed the mattress, not the box springs, and in typical costco format, I would have been forced to over buy.

Third stop: Sleep Country. This time, I met up with a the quintessential sales guy: "hey, I'm going to sell you and while doing so, completely BS you 'cause that's my MO." One question yielded a five minute answer, of which four of those minutes were spent repeating what he'd said in the first minute. I learned that Sleep Country isn't too flexible with the delivery schedule, but they also haul away the old (and stained) mattress to donate to children's charities. "We donate the highest number of mattresses to [insert name of favorite children's charity]". Right. Somehow, he mistook me for caring about the children. I couldn't deal with him, plus Pete convinced me that first, this was a guest bed, so not used a lot, and second, I would most likely sell the mattress with the unit in 3-5 years, so why spend a lot of money?

Pete can be cheap at times, by the way.

Fourth stop: IKEA, despite my better judgement. But, I did find a mattress that I deemed to be good guest quality (i.e., I would sleep on it) and that wasn't too expensive. I asked about delivery, and when we discovered that it would be $50, Pete convinced me that I could save myself the money and "we can tie it to the top of my car." The oh-so helpful sales guy chimed in, "Yes, and we have guys with twine that will tie it to your car. Our service to you." I guess he wasn't paid on commission.

We wrestled the mattress onto the cart, paid for it, stopped for soft ice cream (delicious and btw, IKEA does have good food. I'm especially a big fan of their meatballs and from their food store, pickled herring and mashed fish paste in a tube) and then wheeled the mattress to the loading area, where the youngish twine guy set to work tying the mattress to Pete's car.

It turns out that the twine guy didn't really know what he was doing.

About a mile down the freeway, the mattress started to dance in the wind, supplied by mother nature, the semi trucks and natural drag on the car. We opened the sun roof, trying to hold on to the mattress with the twine, completely useless. Finally, Pete pulled over, we opened the windows, grabbed onto the handles on the side of the mattress, used the GPS to find a route home that didn't require freeways and drove 12 long, very long, miles back to my house.

It must have been quite a site: two people, driving a low-end luxury car, with the windows open, grasping tightly to a mattress haphazardly tied to the top of the car.

I couldn't stop laughing the entire way. About 2 miles in, I turned to Pete, giggling: "we are now one of those people".

Pete's car sporting the matttress:

Pictures - Finally

I was recently culling through some work data, and discovered a statistic that bloggers wish that they had more time to blog (or something like that). I completely feel that way; the blogging has suffered a lot over the past month.

But never fear, my home PC is assembled (for now, until I need to move it again, or until it gasps its' last breath and bursts into flames), and I've uploaded all of my pictures. These aren't the most current - I've started acquiring a few new pieces of furniture, have hung stuff up on the walls, rearranged a bit. But, this gives you an idea of how my place looks. I also have a bunch of entries that need to be written and will fill in with more pictures over the next few days (Labor Day, yeah!).


The kitchen, all important:




The living room. I'm wavering between painting the fireplace wall a dark plum with undertones of blue OR a burnt orange. Thoughts, anyone? Eventually a flat-screen TV will replace Audrey above the fireplace.




And, the night of move in, standing on the roof top deck, holding the all-important bottle of bubbly, with the city view behind me. Unfortunately, it's a bit dark and you can't see much of the view. The next two pictures, with sunset as a backdrop, show off the view quite nicely. Alan is in the first one, Aaron and Pete (who obviously weren't paying attention when I said, "hey, look, I'm taking a picture") are in the second, nicely framing the Space Needle.

Still Alive...

So after writing an entry about the move, sending an e-mail out announcing both my new address and the link to this blog, I have utterly, completely, absolutely failed to do anything with my blog. I have been BUSY, a pitiful excuse, but a valid one. To give you an idea of how busy I've been, I haven't responded to any of the e-mails I received from friends/family catching up with news of their lives (I am SO sorry), I haven't balanced my checkbook in about a month and I'm just behind. Of course, I have other excuses too, a long weekend in the Bay Area for Tricia and James' wedding (great cocktails cake!), the business of settling into a new home, visitors, some project stuff at work ramping up into high-speed mode, evenings not at home, but no more excuses. I am back, more disciplined.

I think.

An update on the home. Thus far, I've picked up a bunch of paint chips and have pondered colors. Aaron has promised to help me (I'm ready anytime, dear). I ordered West Elm's vertical book shelf, specifically for my cookbooks and a regular book shelf. I also just ordered another book shelf, this time for my books. I bought a mattress at IKEA for the murphy bed. I am looking for lighting, a kitchen table and a gas grill. I've begun to decorate. It's all good.

I'm also missing a box. I've known for a while that my pot holders were nowhere to be found, and have recently noticed some other missing stuff. My 12-cup muffin tin, also known as a crucial tool for baking cupcakes. A Le Creuset Emile baking dish (I seem to be cursed with this size baking dish, which is perfect for brownies, cakes and lasagna; years ago, I bought a beautiful blue pyrex 9x12 baking dish, which was lost too). My blue apron embroidered with "Schelley Master Chef". A few kitchen towels. And possibly my pizza stone. Either the box fell off of the truck, or it's one among the six boxes that I think are all books.

Rachel has the honor of being my first official guest, giving me a great excuse to have a small little dinner party. I went Spanish, with gazpacho and a frittata. A delicious stone fruit tart was dessert, and before dinner, cheese (of course, because it's Spanish, Drunken Goat and because I love it, Humboldt Fog), olives and bread. The very excellent Brown Eyed Girl Ale was brought, and we drank Goats do Roam Rose with dinner.

The next night, we made pizza, shopping at the local farmer's market for vegetables. I opened up a very tasty 2004 Unti Sangiovese (Dry Creek Valley), which I had been saving for a pizza night.

Pictures of my place will be posted soon, I promise. Cross my heart.

A Homeowner, At Last

I,Aeove already written about closing day stress. Moving day turned out to be just as stressful.

Technically, my unit should not have closed ,Aei it wasn,Aeot walk-in ready when I received the keys (after the sale had been "officially" recorded). With the exception of a few minor things, everything was supposed to be completed Thursday night (note, closing was Wednesday, but I was kind and let things slide, even though I probably shouldn,Aeot have). Late Thursday afternoon, I let the contractors know that I,Aeod be arriving around 10 the next morning, with movers and my belongings in tow. When I finally arrived around 11, it was apparent that the construction guys were still furiously working. Someone was attaching the door knob, another had a paint brush in hand and the unit had not been thoroughly cleaned.

I completely lost it, and everyone within earshot knew exactly how upset I was after hearing my angry conversation with my real estate agent. It had been two really stressful weeks, I hadn't had a good nights sleep in at least three weeks, and at that point, hit my head hard on the wall of rational and understanding. After some negotiations and many angry phone calls, we decided to move my stuff in and after, a cleaner would come in and the rest of the things (mainly paint patching) would be finished the following week.

One of the best things, in my opinion, about being a homeowner is owning a washing machine and dryer, that is in my unit and doesn't require quarters. About an hour into the move in process, the box labeled ,Aeulinens,Ae? arrived. I ripped it open and threw in sheets. ,AeuSweet,,Ae? I said to the young mover as I pressed start, ,AeuThat is the sound of washing machine that doesn,Aeot require quarters.,Ae? We had a good laugh. Ten minutes later, he said, ,Aeuummm, I think water is leaking out of your washing machine.,Ae? Not only was water leaking out, water had flooded the bathroom, laundry area and entry way, narrowly averting the bedroom carpet.

A hose hadn,Aeot properly been attached, and instead of water running out through the pipes to wherever it goes, it was pouring out of the back of the washing machine, into my unit (and two floors below). The construction guys felt horrible, apologized profusely, cleaned up the mess and reattached the hose. At that moment, I appealed to karma: "I can take anything. The worst has been thrown in my direction, and if I deserve more, well, bring it on. I dare you, bring it on." And then I calmed down...and it hit me...I was finally a homeowner.

That evening, a few friends came over to celebrate my new home. Four very nice bottles of champagne were consumed: a Sofia Coppola blanc de blanc (not bad, with slight floral and wine tastes), Veuve Clicquot Brut (perfect, as only Veuve can be), Moet & Chandon (nicely tasting of toasted almonds) and a 1998 Taittinger (also tasting of toasted almonds, and at the very point where had I waited to drink, it probably would have gone bad). We drank out of plastic cups, of course. As the sun set, we went up to the rooftop deck, talking and drinking champagne, watching the sunset and enjoying the spectacular Seattle city and mountain views.

After so many years thinking that I wasn't going to ever be a homeowner, I now am one. It feels good, very good.

Pictures will be posted later. I'm using my work laptop for this and can't figure out how to reduce the file size in My Pictures or the free version of Adobe Photo Shop and I'm out of patience.

PS - Nilay, thank you for the Taittinger. I know that you wanted me to drink it for a different type of celebration, but that celebration hasn't happened yet, and I decided that becoming a homeowner was worthy of the amazing bottle.

PPS - Pete, thank you for everything. I'm looking forward to accusing you of having too much junk, making fun of your possessions and crashing at your place.

Vertigo Update #4

Announcement: I am now officially a homeowner.

Inspection and closing day started smoothly, but by 10AM, had turned into a high level of stress that only ended when I walked into the title company's office to sign a 2" stack of papers. Because of pain and suffering, BofA ended up waiving my closing costs, a nice surprise that's going to result in a nice monetary return. Hello Crate and Barrel steamer bar cabinet.

I get the keys today. I move Friday. I'll post pictures soon.

Vertigo Update #3

Closing is very, very near. Tuesday is a big day: I'm scheduled for a final walkthrough/inspection, followed by paper signing and check writing with the title company. I close on Wednesday, which I think is the day that I get my keys and take possession. The movers arrive at 8AM on Friday. I think I'm ready on my end. Thanks to Pete, I'm about 75% packed. I've transferred all of the utilities and changed my address, with the exception of the broadband service. I've transferred money around, so barring any banking disaster (eTrade makes me nervous), should be set to go with the funds. (A note about the writing process - I have to pause and take a deep breath each time I reread and edit this paragraph).

Construction is almost complete. Considering how fast this has gone, it looks like the various contractors have done a fairly good job and I didn't notice any real problems. We'll see what comes through in the inspection. The one big item to date - the builder hasn't replaced all of the windows. After Jeff explained the mechanics of construction loans to me, it makes sense - the builder is strapped for cash. This was made glaringly apparent when it looked like they weren't going to close on Wednesday, but then promised they would once the realization that they'd have to pay me $1,400 set in.

Some updated pictures. I hope that the next ones are of the completed unit, and then of my new home with my belongings and personality.

The kitchen - yeah!



My bedroom:



The dining area, note tiled with lighting fixture:



And finally, the murphy bed enclosure, sans murphy bed. I like this picture, as it shows off the floor quite nicely.

Vertigo Update #2

They still have a lot to do before closing, but it's very cool to see actual progress.

Color has now been splashed on the wall.

Cabinets are installed in the kitchen:



The flooring has arrived, and is ready to be installed:


And here's the living room. Behind the washing machine (!) is the dining nook.



I am really, really excited. It's all coming together. I am also incredibly stressed - I've only had a good night's sleep once in the past 10 days because I took a sleeping pill. Trouble with sleep is always the first sign that I'm stressed. My teeth are starting to hurt, meaning I'm clenching my jaw while I'm sleeping. The last time I was this stressed about anything was more than a year ago, when in the space of three weeks, I resigned from a job, moved to a new city and started a new job.

I describe this process as akin to spinning six different pieces, four of which are controlled by others and need to stop at the right instant and click into the correct place for this closing and move to happen on time. It needs to - I've given notice, booked movers, started moving money around and arranged for a final cleaning.

I'll be very glad when I'm ordering pizza and opening a champagne battle on July 27.

the Vertigo Update

My closing has now been delayed by two weeks, to July 25. It looks like things are moving along - dry wall was put up last week, texturing and taping and primer this week. I'm hoping that by next week, I'll see some paint up on the walls, cabinets delivered, appliances appearing, etc.

New pictures:

The kitchen. Imagine cabinets, counter tops and appliances.




The fireplace. The wall above the fireplace has been future proofed for the flat screen TV, with power and cabling for cable, HDMI and the videogame systems run through the walls. Pete and I got to punch a big hole in the wall for the cabling, which was kind of cool. In about 60 years when several owners from now punch through the walls, they are going to wonder who was stupid enough to stuff 25 feet of cable in the walls. Let them wonder, I say, let them wonder. I am also now the proud owner of an electric stud finder.



Finally, the murphy bed enclosure, which is where all of you who come to visit or pass out after the excesses of Cap Hill will be sleeping. Note the big windows from the living and lanai in the background. If light bothers you, you've been warned: bring a sleeping mask.



More pictures as it comes along!

Admitting a Mistake

In my former life as an analyst, I'd often be asked to discuss technology convergence, in essence, mashing together several seemingly separate and unrelated features in one device, a conversation that almost always centered around the cell phone. Convergence rarely works, I would explain, and really, only a handful of consumer electronics products have succeeded with any degree of success: the clock radio, the camera phone, the PC (for all that it's worth).

But, it could work, right? I'd patiently continue my explanation. BOM costs would be fairly high. The device would be the size of a brick. Explaining/marketing the value prop would be fraught with difficulty. And perhaps the biggest problem, the one most difficult to overcome, was the complexity of bringing a product of value to the market, one which in the process of combining disparate features, didn't result in a device in which none of the features worked particularly well because too many concessions had to be made to fit everything together, reduce BOM costs, take advantage of existing manufacturing processes, etc. The history of consumer electronics products bears this out: the N-Gage (crappy phone, crappy game player); PSP movies (proprietary format+small screen+bad audio); combined TV-VCR (I can't even believe a market still exists for that product; one component always breaks); the all-in-one set-top box (a DVD player+DVR+set-top+router+coffee maker sounds great, but...); the ROKR (seriously, how bad was the experience of getting music to that phone?)...and the list continues. And, while the DVD functionality of the PS2/Xbox was good, Sony and Microsoft were smart enough to design the DVD experience as secondary to the gaming experience - they never billed the consoles as DVD players.

Usually, by the end of this rant, I'd like to think I'd convinced the client/colleague/friend/reporter that the reality was, maybe someone, someday could pull off a great converged device, but for the time being, we (consumers) were willing to carry around multiple devices. If I wanted to play great games, I didn't look to my iPod, rather it was all about music. If I wanted to communicate with others, it certainly wasn't with my N-Gage or my Nintendo DS, in the case of the latter, it was only about great game play.

So after all of that...I'm now ready to admit that I was wrong. Completely. Wrong.

The iPhone has changed my mind. It is the perfect example of convergence working, and not only sort of working, but working in a completely seamless and well integrated way. The overall software design is amazing, and the little details are well thought out (the phone automatically locks! the activation experience is easy and simple!) The phone is great - fabulous sound, easy to make calls, a huge leap forward in managing voice mail. Texting takes a little getting used to - but I love the threaded messaging and am getting used to tapping, rather than typing. The iPod works - the design and usability differs from the iPod, but not in a bad way (I like being able to "flip" through my albums). Most importantly, the music experience is well integrated with the voice experience. If I'm listening to music on my headset using the iPhone earbuds, the music automatically stops, and I can talk via the speaker built into the earbuds. Wow. And the web experience. Resizing pages and pictures by "pinching" the screen. All amazing.

That's not to say that it's perfect. I really want to use my own music as a ring tone. I had huge problems initially, mainly because my PC wouldn't recognize the iPhone (I have a feeling that this was more of a PC issue than an iPhone issue). I'm still not able to import my contacts from Outlook into the phone. And, I'm not sure that I'll be able to plug the iPod part of the phone into my car's iPod connector and still be able to use it as a phone (currently, the phone switches into airplane mode, but still plays music in my car). Maybe soon that scenario will work, although I'm certain it will cost me money. No games, but then, it's likely that some casual games (and only casual games) migrate to the device in the future; Bedazzled on a touch screen would be fun. Finally, it is expensive - I could have picked up a Dell Inspiron for the same price; but to be fair, the iPhone price will go down.

The more I've used and played with the iPhone, discovering new features, figuring out how it works, the more impressed and excited I've become. In my history of consumer purchases/acquisitions, I've only felt this way about a few products: my Kitchen-Aid mixer, Lolita (my Mini Cooper), my Nintendo DS, and a certain device that uses electricity rather than batteries.

I'm really excited to see how the iPhone changes my behavior. I know that I'll still use the shuffle for running/the gym. And, I suspect that I'll continue to use my iPod for music in the office and at home. I have 20GB+ of music, and the iPhone only has 8GB of storage, so in it's current form, the iPhone isn't a perfect substitute to carry all of my music in my pocket. I am excited about using the iPhone for on-the-go directions, traffic and weather checks. And, maybe I'll take more phone pictures, since now I can easily send pictures from my phone to the PC.

I was wrong, and I'm not feeling bad admitting the truth. Convergence can work. Sometimes, it feels good to be proven wrong, especially when the end result is so delightfully right.

PS: Pete, thank you for buying me the phone, and to Richard & Melissa, Gavin & Elaine and whoever else waiting at the UVillage Apple Store, thank you for agreeing to help me move so that I could use my mover money for the iPhone. I'll be sending you date/time/place information shortly.

PPS: Just kidding about the moving thing ;) You all know I'm not that cheap. Or crazy.

A Quick Summer Experiment

Inspired in part by the Sassy Radish, I decided to experiment with the salad dressing. Two tomatillas, tomato, lemon juice, a clove of garlic, a handful of cilantro, sour cream, green onions, a garlic scape and olive oil were tossed into the cuisinart. The dressing was chunky, zesty and perfect for a salad of black beans, corn, spring red onions and a crumble of feta cheese over red leaf lettuce.

Experimentation can be good, especially on a warm summer evening.

Eating Takes Work

We had reason to celebrate - a Monday morning presentation represented the end of a three-month long project. What better way to celebrate, than with Tom Douglas' Serious Pie, a place with amazing, wood-fired, thin crusted pizza, really, the perfect pizza.

We began with a salad of butter lettuce, poached cherries and smoked buffalo mozarella (brachhio, maybe?). The pizzas then arrived - three beautiful creations. Roasted potato with a shake of parmesan. Marinara and cheese. Mushroom with truffled cheese. All fabulous. I accompanied with a tasty glass of dolcetto.

And then it was time for dessert. A sister restaurant of Dahlia Lounge, we ordered off of the Serious Pie menu from the Dahlia menu. Our waitress delivered two slices of the famous coconut cream pie and a steaming bag of Dahlia donuts, with vanilla and raspberry dipping sauces. The coconut cream pie was all that I remembered - a flaky crust, a rich and thick cream studded with chunks of fresh coconut and a layer of lightly sweetened cream, covered in white chocolate curles and flakes of freshly roasted coconut. It was heaven. I didn't even taste the donuts, but was told that they were delicious.

After two bites of pie, Jeff remarked "This is really rich". "Yes" I mumbled, my mouth full of coconut cream goodness, "Eating this takes work."

the Mourvedre

Every once in a while, a bottle of wine really gets to me. From the first to last sip, I am infatuated, loving the sensations of the wine as it crosses my lips, tasting the nuances as it dances on my tongue, enjoying the lingering after taste of each sip. Several years ago, I remember enjoying a bottle marketed for Valentine's Day; I can't remember much about the wine, but I do that I enjoyed so much, I tried to get extra bottles from my wine club (even though the relationship that marked the bottle's consumption ended a few days later). I felt this way the first time I tasted a Gruner Veltliner and still dream of the amazing 2005 Brachetto d'Acqui Prieto of several months ago.

The other night, my wine seller neighbor Stephanie hosted a little party. I brought along my corn salad, she supplied me with a steady stream of bubbly and wine. I had to duck out for an airport run, returning in time to hang out with a few last stragglers. Walking out of her apartment after getting me a glass, Stephanie grabbed a 2004 Jade Moutain Mourvedre. I inhaled, took a sip, and instantly, felt my knees go a bit wobbly. I was in love.

A red wine, it had accents of chocolate, berries and tobacco. It tasted warm, well-balanced, not to oaky and not too alcoholic. For me, it was the perfect balance of tastes and satisfaction.

I had never heard of mourvedre. At first look, my wine bible, the Oxford Companion to Wine, didn't seem to list the varietal. What the hell, I thought? Then, perhaps due to the glass of wine I was drinking while researching mourvedre, realized that I'd confused my u's and o's and Oxford did cover it (thus restoring my confidence in the heavy tome). My new favorite wine is "Spain's second most important black grape variety after Grenache and once Provence's most important vine". It's also called Mataro in the New World (which I guess would be California).

Mourvedre/mataro wasn't that popular until the 1980s, although, considering the amount of wine I consume, it may still not be that popular. At that time, the Rhone Rangers, a group of California wine makers (including favorites Bonny Doon and Cline) decided to be a bit more creative with the blending, "which provided a useful outlet for the produce of old grenache and mataro (mourvedre) vines which had previously languished out of favor." And, the old vines were located primarily in Contra Costa county, which makes sense; while Jade Mountain Winery is based in Napa, the grapes were grown at Evangelho Vineyard in Contra Costa County (a geographic area also known as Silicon Valley). And, the bottle is labeled "Ancient Vines 1890". Amazing that the vines weren't attacked by phylloxera.

Wikipedia had an interesting notation:

"Mourv/(R)dre, is a variety of red wine grape grown around the world. In Portugal and the New World. It is known as Mataro, whilst in some parts of France it is known as Estrangle-Chien ("dog strangler")."

Great, I've fallen in love with a wine that is also synonymous with dog stranglers.

Fremont 5K

I ran the Fremont 5K Friday night, reaching my personal best time, 36 minutes, for a 5K. For those of you paying attention, this was about 3 minutes faster than the St. Paddy's Day Dash, although about flat with the Beat the Bridge Race a few weeks ago.

A few things about the race. It was an evening race, so very different dynamic than the usual early morning start. It was also on the smaller end, maybe 350 runners. And, the planners also sponsored a briefcase relay, which meant that I got to see teams of people dressed in wacky clothes, including riffs on the office worker garb, with a few carrying briefcases.

The race began/ended at Adobe Plaza, where a too small beer garden had been set up. Sadly, garlic was roasting in the oven and we had to skip the beer garden, but I was treated to a delicious spaghetti dinner after.

Memorial Day Meals

Memorial Day weekend kind of snuck up on me, and I discovered that most of my friends were either out of town or busy (teeth extractions, couple stuff, visitors). I found myself with lots of time, or as I described, "great voids of nothingness". Which meant it was time to cook.

Two vidalia onions. My first thought was some sort of onion tart. Carrie makes a excellent tart, but alas, she was chasing DILF's in Hawaii and not available for recipe sharing. I scanned a few cookbooks, but couldn't find a recipe that I liked. Then it dawned on me: pissaladiere from Cook's Illustrated. Basically a fancy French pizza, the dough was slightly chewier and flatter than a regular pizza. Sans cheese and sauce, it was topped with nicoise olives, anchovies, thyme, a few sprinkles of truffle salt (my addition) and caramelized onions. The pissaladiere was absolutely delicious - chewy crust, the saltiness of the anchovies and olives offset nicely by the thick layer of sweet vidalias. I shared with a few neighbors at the Park Rose Terrace; someone else contributed bbq spareribs. Weird combination, but delicious.

While looking for onion recipes, I stumbled across a recipe for ginger duck in Amanda Hesser's very excellent Cooking for Mr. Latte (there's a story behind that cookbook that maybe some day I'll share on this blog). In December, Dad gave me a duck and two breasts (he's a duck hunter). The dish required two days, I was inspired, had time and had always had good luck with recipes from the book.

Alas, so much about the recipe was right. The flavors - the duck stuffed with celery and shallots, cooked gently in a broth of ginger and soy - were right. The broth was delicious, rich, gingery, slightly salty. After resting for a day, the duck was roasted, basted in the broth. And, the broth was also used to cook some of the most delicious rice pilaf I have ever tasted.

While I loved the rice, the duck, on the other hand, the poor, poor duck. I'm sure the duck lived a good life, and sadly, I just didn't cook it right in death. It was overcooked and dry. I hadn't realized until later that the recipe was intended for a farm-raised duck, versus the wild duck that I cooked. With the winged migration (exercise and all), my duck was much leaner, and in the butchering process, it's fatty skin was removed. Which meant not only less fat, but no skin to turn into crackling goodness during the final roasting stage.

Regardless the dinner wasn't a waste. Have I mentioned how fabulous the rice tasted? I also made zucchini fritters, which were not only delicious, but fresh and bright and cut the richness of the duck broth enhanced rice. Oh, and I drank a 2003 Stama Cabernet with.

PS: Pete, Capitol Hill and Venus Cafe miss you.

Not Beating the Bridge

I did not beat the bridge.

It's not really a bad thing, in the course of things. I ran the 5-mile "Beat the Bridge" race on Sunday. Being in the third wave, also know as the "jogger" wave and what I half jokingly call the "loser" wave, I would have had to run two ten-minute miles in order to make it to the University bridge before it went up at exactly 9AM. By the time I arrived, people were removing the countdown clock and the bridge was up. All in all, though, the forced break was good. I had a few minutes to rest, drink some water, setting me up nicely for the rest of the race. And, the rain that started around mile 4 was a nice push, "I have to pick up the pace and finish this damn race!"

In the end, I finished at the 1 hour and 12 minute mark. Since I started 10 minutes after the clock, I actually clocked in at slightly more than an hour, or about 12 minutes a mile. Incrementally, I'm improving with this whole running thing.

That same day, for the first time in seeming forever, I actually made a real meal, vegetable curry, with potatoes, cauliflower and chickpeas. This required a great deal of chopping, multiple spices (curry, coriandor, cardamom, cinnamon, salt, pepper) and cooking. I even made two chutneys: sweet onion (yeah for the vidalia!) and cilantro-mint. The meal was absolutely delicious, hearty, spicy and perfect for the end of a rainy and chilly May race day.

In a year, I want to beat the bridge.

The Vertigo

Since moving to Capitol Hill, I've wandered past the Vertigo Building, a building distinctive enough to stand out and make me wonder about the inside. I probably would have missed it, except that it's located next to the Cap Hill Library, where I get books and admire the architecture.

In mid-March, I noticed a sign in front of the Vertigo building announcing that the building had turned condo, using the clever tagline "If the City is Your Game of Tag, This is Your Base". I wandered inside, took a look at a few of the units and instantly fell in love. A few weeks later, after many discussions, hours spent at the building and friends/family drug along to look, I made an offer, on April 14, to be exact. The offer was accepted. Not only am I moving once again (number six in slightly less than nine years), but taking a huge life step.

On July 11, after an extended escrow period, I am going to be homeowner.

Exciting, fabulous, terrifying and just plain "wow" can only capture my myriad of emotions.

The Vertigo isn't exactly what I thought I wanted. Originally, I described my perfect home in terms of old warm charm, built from the 1900s through the 1920s, with a brick exterior, creaking wood floors, high ceilings, built-in glass cabinets and other characteristics of that era. The Vertigo is none of that, rather a hulking mass of concrete circa 1961, but still with character. However, in this case, it's reminiscent of shag and kitsch and modern, before that era turned cheap and tacky and Sputnik modern.

I've always loved that early 60s feel, even driving a car that smacks squarely within that era. As I thought about my life, particuarly having hit my one year mark in Seattle, I realized that since 2001, I've lived in old warm charm houses and apartments, some nicer than others. And decided that it was time for a change.

Even though I haven't yet moved, and July 11 is only a fixed date that can easily change (in the process of condoizing the building, units have been gutted and completely remodeled, so yes, I will have granite counter tops and dishwasher and washing machine), I've already begun to think about the housewarming party. Food from the 1950s era will be served, although in my fashion, updated for 2007. Already, I'm thinking martinis, deviled eggs, onion dip, meatballs. Any other ideas?


The most important room, the soon-to-be kitchen.

A Few Notes From the Road

I took one of those seemingly forever trips, bookmarking a business trip with a few days of fun on both ends. I started in New York (site of Gabe,Aeos tube themed dinner), then to Boston, Chicago, Champaign-Urbana, back to Chicago, back to Boston and finally, home. The trip worked out well, for so many reasons. I was able to stay with Gabe and Jason (plus CC!), Asra was in New York at the same time (although for an unexpected extra day, thanks to the Nor,AeoEaster), I business traveled with a co-worker (the company was excllent) and spent a few days with my two nephews, happily bonding with the newest one.

So, highlights include:

--Billy,Aeos. Gabe steered me away from the venerable Magnolia Cupcakes to Billy,Aeos, the place ,Aeuwhere all the locals and a few stars go,Ae?. Have I mentioned that when it comes to food, Gabe is almost never wrong? Thus, Billy,Aeos was an excellent choice, one enjoyed with Asra between shopping. A tiny little bakery, smelling of fresh baked goodness, with several different kinds of cupcakes, cakes and pies. I opted for my standby vanilla cake and frosting ,Aei both were good, although I think the structure of the cake is slightly better (as in moister and with a bit more air) at Trophy Cupcakes. Regardless, Billy,Aeos was still excellent and worthwhile. I also brought home a slice of coconut cake (almost as good as what I made for Tony,Aeos birthday a few years ago) and banana cake (which I didn,Aeot touch but went over very well with Gabe, Jason and Chris). While I didn,Aeot see any celebrities and their accompanying handlers, my heart did skip a few beats when two guys delivered six brand new Kitchen Aid mixers.

--Cuban Food. Gabe and Jason found a hole in the wall Cuban place somewhere in Chelsea. Delicious and cheap. Pan fried cubes of pork with rings of saut/(c)ed onions, shredded beef in some type of nourishing sace, sweet plantains, and white rice and black beans. So amazingly good. Gabe and I ate too much, then took a long walk after. The Cuban place reminded me of my favorite taquerias in Mountain View and Indian places in London - kind of sketchy on the outside, super clean with amazing food and friendly people on the inside.

--Bouchon. Gabe and Jason live within sight of Columbus Circle, which houses a few establlishments capable of bringing me to my knees, including Thomas Keller,Aeos Per Se and Bouchon. We had an excellent lunch at Bouchon,Aeos take-out caf/(c), tuna nicoise sandwiches and ham and cheddar quiche, and I also picked up freshly baked croissants and other pastries on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, after running in Central Park. The next time I,Aeom in New York, I will plan my restaurant schedule to include meals at either Per Se or the sit down Bouchon, or both.

--Luna Caf/(c). Compared to the college towns that I,Aeom used to (Berkeley, in particular, and a small private school in Palo Alto and of course, UW), Champaign-Urbana, home of the University of Illinois, is muted and quiet. Campus social life seems to rest within a large Greek system and on a small few blocks of restaurants and shops. Luckily, we found an amazing place in the three block span of fast food and chain restaurants: Luna Caf/(c). It was so delicious, after lunch, we returned for dinner (and overcame the puzzled looks on the waiter's face who recognized us. I wanted to scream, do you know what a food wasteland Champaign is? but of course, didn't because I was hungry and knew the food and wine list were both superior to anything else in the area). At lunch, we split the cheese platter, drowned goat, aged Wisconsin cheddar, a runny and smelly white cheese. I moved on to a bowl of sweet potato soup, decorated with truffle oil, and then to a seared tuna nicoise salad. Luna focused on tapas for dinner; we shared warmed brie, fried artichokes and beets and duck confit ravioli (a house specialty, and really, my favorite), among a few others succulent dishes.

--Running. Ok, while not related to food, I have to point out that both Saturdays of the trip were sunny and warm, a lucky strike considering that the weather was generally uninspiring and rainy (even experiencing what they call a ,Aeunor,Aeoeaster,Ae? on Sunday in New York). I was also lucky to be near great running pastures, Central Park in New York and the Charles River in Boston, and took advantage of both.

--Friday Night at the Olhava,Aeos. My brother encouraged me to arrive in Boston in time for dinner, saying ,AeuAlex insists on Friday night dinner,Ae?. I,Aeom not sure what that meant, considering Alex is 2 -Ohm, an age which I know almost nothing about. But knowing that my brother is an excellent cook, I made sure that I got from Chicago to Boston in time for dinner. Unfortunately, Alex is going through what many refer to as ,Aeuthe terrible twos,Ae?, so I ended up eating dinner by myself. But I have to say, dinner by myself was excellent ,Aei grilled lamb chops, baby potatoes with mint and steamed asparagus, and I was the only one in the household to enjoy a warm dinner. Sunday, before I left, I made Ed a chocolate cake for his birthday. He's not a baker, I am, and I realized, it had been a while since I'd baked.

And just as an FYI, even though it was very fun to hang out with Alex and the 3-month old Pete, who is absolutely adorable in his 3-month oldedness and seems to like me, I couldn,Aeot help reflecting on how different the two weekends were: partying a lot in New York, followed by staying home with two little people. The wonderfullness of life.

The Cuban Food...mmm...



Billy's Cupcakes. Obviously, the little cakes were slightly eaten by the time I took a picture.



The very excellent seared tuna nicoise salad at Luna Cafe.

Dinner From Tubes

Only Gabe would come up with the idea of creating a dinner in which every dish contained an ingredient that came from a tube. Luckily for me, he and friend Regina,Aeos idea and plans for dinner coincided with my trip to New York, so I was able to participate, and most importantly, enjoy the results.

I actually didn,Aeot realize how much food could be found in a tube, until Gabe showed me his collection, a huge container filled with tubes containing exotic ingredients. I have regularly bought tomato paste, ginger, garlic and cilantro (the last one was one of those first and last purchases) in tubes ,Aei easy to store and easy to use. But there is so much more ,Aei mustard, horseradish, fish paste type things, and in Europe, the selection is even more diverse (for example, I,Aeove regularly bought mustard in a tube in Finland which by the way, is one of my favorite mustards). And now I'm keeping my eyes open for new food in tubes.

Dinner started with deviled eggs, half of which contained black cod roe and half horseradish. I absolutely loved the fishy taste with the egg; I even bought a tube of smoked fish from Ikea and made my own a few weeks later (in the spirit of keeping my eyes open for new foods in tubes). From there, we moved to sweet pepper stew with chorizo. Sooo delicious, the stew contained a few ingredients from tubes, possibly paprika. For the main course, roasted chicken, saut/(c)ed brussel sprouts with white beans (garlic from a tube and courtesy of Chris), a spinach and feta cheese torta and mashed potatoes (with horseradish from a tube). I contributed a ginger cake, which of course, used an entire tube of minced ginger.

I like the themed dinner idea. Gabe,Aeos went beyond the general cuisine categories that usually mark a themed dinner (such as Mexican, Indian, Thai, bbq, etc.) and forced us to be creative in ways that cooks are not normally challenged. I imagine it was like Iron Chef, only without the really weird ingredients and snarky comments from judges. I,Aeove already discussed the idea with a few of my Seattle foodie friends and we,Aeove thinking of new themes for dinner parties (and those of you I haven,Aeot discussed with, don,Aeot worry, we,Aeoll discuss).

Themes ,AeP all good.

Below: the deviled eggs with a few tubes. Jason and I were being artistic.



The stew, with the tube of paprika (at least, I hope that's paprika).



Main course!


Ginger cake, slightly blurry. A lot of wine and food had been consumed by the time dessert was served.

The Easter Bunny Cometh: Family, Coke and Ovens on Fire

Easter 2007 will also go down as perhaps my greatest kitchen disaster yet, of which there are many. This time, the oven caught on fire. Yes, you read that statement correctly: the oven caught on fire. Technically, Pete caught my oven on fire, but since I,Aeom a nice person, I won,Aeot blame him (even though he later ate my Easter bunny). And, really, the gruyere cheese that bubbled onto the bottom of the oven from the potato gratin is what caught on fire, but it happened to coincide with Pete placing the apple pie in the oven.

In retrospect, the flames shooting up from the bottom of the oven were kind of cool. And terrifying. And the giant puffs of black smoke hovering throughout my apartment were decidedly unpleasant, something noticed by a few neighbors (,AeuOh, that was you that caused that smell,Ae?). Thoughts ran through my mind, including ,AeuEaster dinner is cancelled,AePwhat am I going to do with 10 pounds of pig brining in the fridge,AePI,Aeom going to burn down the Park Rose Terrace,AeP,Ae? After running around like little girls, grabbing a fire extinguisher, wondering if we should call 911, the oven door closed and the fire went out. Dinner was not ruined. And in fact, dinner was pretty good.

I brined a pork shank in coca cola, salt and herbs, not exactly the most traditional brine, but one that resulted in tender, moist pork. Before roasting, I rubbed an herb paste on the skin, then basted Porky while he was cooking with an apple cider glaze. The skin and layer of fat was flavorful and chewy, the meat fabulous. Plus potato gratin with gruyere, arugula and bacon, mashed potatoes (from Simon), green beans (from Tracy), roasted asparagus with tomato basil vinaigrette and salad (from Lee Dicks). And we started with cheese courtesy of Gavin and Elaine and artichoke dip. For dessert, Pete made an apple pie and Richard a lemon tart.






Easter dinner had once been a Bay Area Olhava tradition. We would gather to celebrate with dinner on Saturday night, generally bacchanalian affairs marked by too much wine and food and traditional Polish breakfast Sunday morning. I haven,Aeot celebrated Easter in several years, but decided that dinner was in order when I found out that Ed was going to be in Seattle for a wedding over the weekend.

Because my brother was in town, a good selection of wine was required, most of which was from the Washington area. A 2006 Columbia Winery Gewurtz (which went the best with the pork, in my opinion), a 2004 Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay, a 2004 Hogue Merlot (also from Columbia Valley), my stand-by Rex Goliath Pinot and of course, because it was a celebration, a Lucien Albrecht Cremant Brut de Blancs.

Just as an aside, Ed, Pete and I hit Salume for lunch on Good Friday. I can only describe the place as amazing ,Aei a closet sized restaurant dedicated to perfectly cured meats. I decided to go with the basics, choosing a prosciutto sandwich. Paper-thin slices of prosciutto, salty and smokey, and creamy fresh mozzarella, sandwiched between perfectly greasy focaccia. Ed had the pork cheeks sandwich, giant chunks of tender braised pork in a baguette with peppers and onions. Lunch at Salume also coincided with a warm Seattle spring day, actually the nicest day in six months, so we went to the Seattle Library (light shining through the windows) and the Space Needle for views.

Some Wine Talk

,AeuYou don,Aeot really write that much about wine,Ae? Richard noted the other night, while were wine tasting at Whole Foods. I stared at him. ,AeuYou,Aeore right. Not because I don,Aeot drink wine, but mainly because I can,Aeot remember the names of the wines that I drink.,Ae?

I,Aeove decided to get better about the wine part of my blog.

I joined Richard and Melissa for a wine 101 class at Whole Foods. It was the very opposite of wine tasting at a winery, with the insipid chatter and explanations from slightly tipsy pourers and tour guides. Quite the opposite, our instructor pointed out that he was not allowed to drink on the job and spit out every taste.

We began by discussing the five basic tastes, sweet, acidity, fruitiness, tannin and alcohol, tasting liquids that exemplified each taste. And then we moved into the wine tasting, trying to use our newly discovered taste buds to determine how the wine fit into the taste profile(s). We asked a lot of questions, talked about what we were tasting, looked at maps of where the grapes were grown, munched on cheese.

We tasted four whites and two reds. Richard and I agreed that we liked the reds much more than the whites, enjoying the complexity and presence that I have a hard time finding with whites. Melissa disagreed. Luckily, no chairs were thrown. It was a wine tasting, after all.

Of the whites, we had a Conte Brandolino Pinot Grigio; a Chateau St. Michelle Saint M Riesling (grown in Italy and sold under the Washington-based St. Michelle brand); a Joseph Dourhin Saint Veran (a white burgundy!); and Kendall-Jackson chardonnay. All were from 2005. I liked all, and would happily drink all (especially the white burgundy), with the exception of the last. I just do not like oaky, buttery California chardonnays. However, I did discover that I enjoy unoaked chardonnays, the white burgundy.

I liked both reds, a Barnard Griffith Syrah and a Charles Joguet Chinon, or cabernet franc. The first was jammy, but very drinkable and opened up nicely. I absolutely loved the second (and had a second glass before leaving); inky red, full of depth and rich flavors and complexity.

I put my newfound knowledge to work this weekend. I,Aeom a big sucker for labels, and was seduced by the 2005 ,AeuBitch,Ae? from Australia. Yes, that is the wine,Aeos actual name. It wasn,Aeot really that great, not matching up to the promise of the name and cute pink label, incredibly jammy and not in a good way.

One Year = 365 Days

I,Aeom not really surprised that time passes so quickly ,Aei we all acknowledge that in a seeming blink of the eye, a day, a week, a month, a year goes by. In this case, March 26 marks my ,AeuI can,Aeot believe it,Aeos been a year,Ae? moment, the day that I moved to Seattle and began working for bill.

I,Aeove been toying with this blog entry for a while. Part of me thought about writing the self-reflective ,Aeuhow I,Aeove found myself and grown as a person,Ae? piece. But that would, well, not be right. Life in Seattle isn,Aeot dramatically different from that which I left behind in San Francisco. I still go out with friends, I still cook, I still go to the gym in the mornings before work, I still linger over brunch and mimosas on the weekends, I still do many things on my own. The people and location and job have changed (as I knew it would, and in the case of my job, needed a big change), but I,Aeom not sure how much I, and the basics of my life, have changed. Honestly, the one part of my life that I thought would be different by now, has remained steadfastly the same.

Don,Aeot get me wrong ,Aei Seattle has been fabulous and while I miss San Francisco and my friends in the Bay Area, I have no regrets about moving here. It still feels good to go to work, and while my job isn,Aeot perfect, it makes me much happier than the one I left behind. I have made fabulous friends, all of whom bring new experience and stories and make me laugh. Seattle has many wonderful qualities. Despite the fact that the weather has been horrible this winter, I really, really like living in this city and it does feel like home. Importantly, summer is around the corner. Which means more sunshine and warmth, something that I feel like I,Aeove almost forgotten. I,Aeom not joking when I say that it,Aeos been a hard, hard winter.

I can,Aeot write about everything that has happened to me in the past year ,Aei that would be impossible, and probably ruin the spirit of this blog, food and drink. And besides which, much of the year is in this blog. So, I thought that highlights of my unique to be in Seattle experience would be best. I know I,Aeom leaving things out, but really, that,Aeos why I have a blog. Anyways, here goes.

--The Rise and Fall of Coco La Ti Da. I absolutely adored Coco and talked it up to everyone. I patronized as much as I could afford, bought two cakes and generally loved everything about it, the food, the atmosphere, the desserts. Three months after opening, co-owner and chef Sue called it quits, possibly suffering some sort of breakdown. And now it sits empty, a giant ,Aeuretail space available,Ae? sign in the window, silently mocking me.

--Running. After years spent ellipticalling, the lure of Guinness finally made me step into running. I,Aeove surprised myself by how much I enjoy the activity. While I,Aeove never been a big slacker when it comes to the gym, I,Aeove found that running has given me a new excitement for exercise. I love Green Lake (thanks Jill, for organizing) and think the little races are fun, fun, fun. Plus, food and/or drink (as in Zoka coffee) is a reward at the end.

--Venus Caf/(c). While I do talk up Venus Caf/(c), it is generally only to select individuals. Purposely, I haven,Aeot written much, if anything, about Venus, mainly because I don,Aeot want to give anyone any ideas of going there. Seriously, stay away. Don,Aeot go. But if you do insist, their brunch is fabulous, trust me. And the mimosa comes in a pint glass, a bundle of fabulous goodness, that as Carrie says, ,Aeutakes the edge off,Ae?. Kudos to that.

--The Park Rose Terrace. I believe that after forcing me into three unexpected and hurried moves, the housing gods have blessed me, not once, but twice. First, I found an amazing apartment in San Francisco. And then, I found the Park Rose Terrace in Seattle. It,Aeos in the perfect neighborhood and an incredibly social building, probably the first and last time in my life that I,Aeoll know my neighbors as intimately. We hang out, we have real conversations, we eat together, we celebrate together, we generally have fun. This is especially true in the summer, with the patio and the bbqs. I met my realtor, John, through a neighbor; John refers to my building as Melrose Place, which I think sums it up nicely, only sans the back stabbing and pool of death.

--My Liver Hates Me Again. It,Aeos a fairly well known fact that my social life was sucked away in the five years that I lived in Silicon Valley. The one real exception was roommating with Dan, which consisted of an extremely well stocked liquor cabinet and too many lemon drops, cosmos and margaritas. Then I moved to San Francisco, where life morphed into a great and fun party. Despite my intense unhappiness with my job, I was extremely lucky to have the flexibility to work-at-home on limited sleep and/or a hangover days. When I moved to Seattle, I joked that ,Aeuthe partying is going to end for a long time, maybe forever, which will be good because my liver needs a break.,Ae? The partying ended for about two months, and once again, my poor liver is suffering just as much as ever. However, I should point out that the excellent fruit-based cocktails at Sun Liquor provide me with vitamins and minerals.

--Coffee & Donuts. Joe Bar is my favorite coffee shop. Great coffee and when the kitchen is open (although after almost a year, I still can,Aeot figure out the kitchen schedule), produces fabulous sandwiches and crepes. Top Pot has inspired me to love donuts. Cafe Vivace makes my favorite latte. Which reminds me ,Aei my coffee consumption has increased, a very Seattle thing, I,Aeom sure.

--Dodgeball. I think I was accepted as one of the guys when a teammate standing next to me mooned the other team during the highly charged semi-finals round. It really doesn,Aeot matter though, the game is fun, fun, fun. And when I say ,Aeuhighly charged,Ae?, I,Aeom referring to the other gender,Aeos general worked-upedness about winning or losing the game.

--An Appreciation for Software Development. While not related to food (notice that the work cafeteria has not been mentioned on this list), I have gained so much knowledge about the inner workings of the software development business, how and why decisions are made, which to the outsider, can be puzzling, at best. I can honestly say that I would have been a much better analyst with even a year of the experience that I now have (not to mention the immense learning about research and problem solving). The Office productivity suite is not perfect, but considering so many factors, it truly is an amazing product.

One year. 365 days. Wow.

Pete's 30th and St. Paddy's Day Dash

Pete turned 30, and to properly celebrate his migration into the ,Aeu30s,Ae? (a good age, in my opinion), I offered to bake a birthday cake, which then turned into a birthday dinner. And since his birthday isn,Aeot that far from St. Patrick,Aeos Day, I decided that Irish was perfect. Pete pointed out that he,Aeos not Irish, but he really didn,Aeot have a choice, and even if he didn,Aeot want or like corned beef and cabbage, he did an excellent job of covering it up.

Last year, a few weeks before moving to Seattle, I made corned beef for Carrie, Emil, Rachel and Jeff and Melissa. The only problem was that the beef had already been corned, so I wasn,Aeot sure if the deliciousness that we consumed was me or Whole Foods. This year, I purchased a beef brisket (grass fed, of course), and a week before the dinner, lovingly massaged a salt and spice rub into the attractive looking piece of beef. It went into the fridge, weighted down with Le Creuset filled with pie weights and a few cans of Guinness, and flipped and admired each evening.

I simmered the meat for several hours, and in the end, it was great ,Aei flavorful, tender, juicy,AePin all, we ate well. Veggies in the form of cabbage (of course), parsnips, boiling onions, new potatoes and turnips, which of course, were boiled in the broth after the beef was cooked, and I made Irish soda bread. Plus appetizers, cheese, crackers, tomato tart and Michael brought ceviche. And to properly celebrate Pete,Aeos migration to 30, devil,Aeos food cake with vanilla frosting (you devil, you!), plus a raspberry chocolate decadence something or other from Dilettante supplied by Rich.

Pete, you don,Aeot look a day over 30. Seriously.

The next day, I ran the St. Paddy,Aeos Day Dash 5K, coming in at 39 minutes and 29 seconds, which is about 3 minutes faster than the Jingle Bell Dash in December. My best race yet,AePthis running thing is coming along quite nicely.

The other night, I finally watched Sofia Coppola's incredibly fun and colorful Marie Antoinette. It wasn't exactly a movie about food, really, about the last gasps of the French monarchy before the country spent a few hundred years stumbling towards democracy, eventually sort of claiming world domination through culture. However, food, the consumption and modeling of, playing a dominant role. Poor Marie, trapped in a difficult marriage (seven years before it was consummated?) and restrictive aristocratic culture, found solace in parties and entertainment and clothes, including shoes. Oh, the shoes.

The food was exquisite - elegant and charming and colorful and frilly. Poached salmon decoratively wrapped in cucumbers. Frosted petite fours. Bubbly champagne fountains crafted of stacked glasses and goblets of ruby red wine. Meals did play a pivotal role in key scenes, setting the social order and customs for those in the court and their hangers-on and illustrating the gradual shifts in the King and Queen's relationship. The clothes carefully matched the food - bright colors, ruffles and lace and baubles. I was not surprised to learn that the costumes were modeled after the food. Wow.

One other comment - seeing the preview, reading reviews, I wasn't sure how Sofia would pull off the juxtaposition of 80s music and 18th century France. Amazingly enough, it worked, very well. I'm probably going to buy the soundtrack, it was that impressive.

Grass vs Corn

The other night at Whole Foods, I bought a grass fed rib eye steak, invited Pete for dinner, then realized that one steak wouldn't be enough, so asked him to pick up another steak on his way over. Instead of a rib eye, he brought some other cut, but purchasing at QFC guaranteed that his steak was corn fed. Thus, we had the opportunity to do a side by side comparison of corn fed versus grass fed beef.

The difference was big. Both cuts had been prepped and cooked the exact same way, sprinkled with black pepper and truffle salt and pan-fried in a cast iron skillet, still nicely pink on the inside. The rib eye, as expected, was more tender, keeping in mind that the steaks came from different parts of the cow. But the general flavor was different, or as I said, "it was more buttery".

I also made mashed potatos with sour cream, half-and-half, sauteed shallots and garlic, black pepper and truffle salt. The sauteed spinach with garlic and lemon was delicious (and leftovers quite nice with eggs the next morning); the sauteed collard greens were bitter and disappointing.

My Super Hero Dating Quiz

According to Professor Charles Xavier and Doctor Fate, Cable is my super hero lover. I'm not exactly sure who he is, but I like that as a cyborg, he packs a big gun. I'm sure I know what you are thinking, and to that I say, get your mind out of the gutter; Cable and his bug gun will always protect me from, umm, the weirdos out there.

More Cupcakes!

Thanks to my daily dose of Daily Candy (which finally started in Seattle, yeah!), I discovered that the forever-in-renovation space in the Wallingford Center had been completed, serving a very useful purpose as cupcake shop and cafe, Trophy Cupcakes and Party.

After a brief stop for lunch, beer purchases at the Bottle Shop and a dose of gourmet at Cosa Bella (where I picked up the very excellent Ecorce de Sapin, a wonderfully runny cheese, tasting of slight sour and toasted almonds), Jill, Jamie and I made our way to the cupcakery. Jill chose a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, I went vanilla all the way. Other choices included red velvet, variations on coconut and a chai cupcake. Wisely, we decided that going basic would give us a good sense of the cupcakery's potential; after all, if they couldn't make a decent basic cupcake, were the gourmet ones really worth it? Jamie disagreed, but he also doesn't like cupcakes, so I'm not sure that I trust his line of argument. (Sorry Jamie)

The Trophy Cupcake was delicious. Airy cake, with enough structure to support the generous helping of frosting, but not overly dense. The frosting on it's own wasn't as sweet and cloying as say, a Safeway cupcake. I'll be eager to see how well it does over the long-term. I suspect that cupcakes are a fad that are nearing their end for now, but Wallingford could be a great location, considering the neighborhood's heavy emphasis on family. Also, the cupcakery sells an assortment of other stuff, including cupcake decorations and cards.

In other news, I finally broke down and bought the new Shuffle; mine was a year old, starting to have problems and rather than suffer the pain of it's eventual breakdown and demise, proactively purchased a new one. For those that care, i selected silver. The colors are super cute, but in the end, I thought the silver was best.