Filed under: My favorite things
This was one of those weeks where I can’t remember what actually happened. Perhaps it was because brother was coming up and I was really excited because that means lazy days at home with lots of home cookin’. Oh, and it also meant these…
A haul from Miette. Oh how I miss my favorite San Francisco bakery (the ONLY place that makes a proper macaron). Thanks to brother @thanithani & @maridorothy for the goodies!!
A new cookbook for the collection. Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook Jerusalem is unbelievable. Lots of recipes with vegetables, lamb, and spices and the photos and food styling are gorgeous.
A recipe for gougeres. We did our testing last weekend and the gougies were a hit, and so easy. Are you ready for the recipe?
Are you all settled into this lovely new year? It’s nice to have a bit of a normal routine again, I must say. And now that we’re on the upswing for longer days it all seems to be quite nice to me. I’m looking forward to finalizing plans for our little shindig and sharing some recipes with you. Tonight we’re going to play with gougères!
Happy weekend to you. And may you play with your food too. Kiss!
Mint, vintage Kaj Franck enamelware bowls from Andrew! The only hearts approved for our Lucky Valentine party so far. (There will be a strict limit until I can find some good party inspiration that isn’t beyond cheesy. Seriously, try searching for Valentine party inspo.)
A sneak peek at Seattle’s Bar Sajor from Chef Matt Dillon. I was so lucky (if not slightly groupie) to tag along with Andrew to see the space as they’re finishing construction. Hallelujah, Pioneer Square finally has a chance to live up to its potential! Giddy doesn’t even describe how I feel.
When Pioneer Square Pantry granola met Stumptown Grand Cru coffee. We had so much fun tasting and sipping last weekend. Already looking forward to sharing the next one with you.
Early in the fall I mentioned a yummy food gift we received from Chef Kylan of Sitka & Spruce: homemade yogurt, granola, and jam. Well if you’d like to try some too, and if you’re looking for something to do tomorrow morning (Saturday) come visit me at the Stumptown Cafe on 12th Avenue between 10 am – 12pm. Come taste some of the goods and sip on some Grand Cru Stumptown coffee brewed in a sexy Chemex. Kylan will be there to share more about this sweet little project too.
Just head downstairs to the roastery and you’ll see us. We’d love to talk yogurt, food, coffee, anything with you. Very informal, friendly, and tasty, I promise. Kiss!
_______
Pioneer Square Pantry tasting
Saturday, January 4th | 10 am to 12 pm
Filed under: My favorite things
Can you believe the holidays are upon us? I often joke that I’m still stuck somewhere back in August (as I can’t remember anything much between then and now). But here we are in the midst of it all, and in the blink of an eye it will be over. I’m hoping to savor the next few days so that I don’t have to lump all of this into the abyss of autumn.
I hope that you, too, are able to enjoy every moment of your holiday.
Here are my faves from the week. Kiss!
Multitasking. The other night while laying in bed I found myself simultaneously planning cookie baking and post-holiday detox. There’s something very wrong with me.
A dose of holiday nostalgia. Why does no one talk about The Snowman during the holidays? Perhaps it’s more of a British thing, but my season’s not complete without it. Watch the whole thing here.
Oh, Whole Foods. Whatever happened to a simple mistletoe? Yes I realize I followed something as lovely as Walking in the Air with talk of Christmas balls.
Happy Holidays!
Was anybody else dead tired today? I don’t know what happened but I could barely get out of bed to make it to work today: and by that I mean make it to work, like, right now…at four o’clock. Perhaps it’s the shortness of these days, or the impending apocalypse, but regardless my body is run over and lazy.
Lately in order to help me feel less lazy and lethargic I feel like I’ve accomplished something if I’ve done nothing else other than played one of these puzzle games. I have to say the brain exercise helps, and it’s so nice not to have the telly on. I’ve suddenly realized that even without Cable television I have substituted it with Instant Netflix, and there’s not much on there either!
So, here’s a list of some of my favorite games…in case you’re in need of some brain exercise fun with family during the holiday next week. And a big thanks to Thani and Mari for sharing the first two with me this summer.
Quarto - Create a line of four pieces that share a commom characteristic: tall or short, dark or light, square or round, hollow or solid. The trick here is that you pick the piece your opponent plays. A game of strategy, perception, and reasoning…but so fun. There will be many a face palm when you accidentally hand your opponent the precise piece they need to complete their set.
Pentago - I like to think of it as Connect Four on crack. The object is to place five of your color marbles in a row, but the twist here is that after each play you must rotate one of the four quadrants!
Memory - Again, how much I love these colorful Patrick Hruby cards. And really, it’s pretty alarming how much I can’t remember during the course of this game.
Heston Blumenthal at home / Japanese Farm Food / Home Made /
Gastropub Classics / Japanese Hot Pots / Grow Cook Eat
Have I ever mentioned that my sweetheart, Andrew, is a classically trained chef? Oh, yeah. Aside from the natural and fluid grace he has to his method of cooking, I love that he has helped me fine-tune my appreciation for cookbooks. I find it to be incredibly overwhelming to seek out and find a great cookbook, but with his eye for a well-curated book of recipes we have added some truly wonderful books to our collection this year.
Most of these aren’t just for the skilled cook either; in fact, the only one that I would consider to be advanced would be Heston Blumenthal at Home (an amazing book!). The others are just as special and would make wonderful projects to take into the new year…for me least.
Heston Blumenthal at home - advanced, but straight-forward and exciting recipes
Japanese Farm Food - life, community, and seasonal food on an organic Japanese farm
Home Made - easy and approachable “from-scratch’ recipes with lovely photographs and illustrations
Gastropub Classics - finally a gourmet’s guide to good British fare from the chef of The Fox Dining Room in London
Japanese Hot Pots - gorgeous and simple Japanese one pot dishes (donabe), clean comfort food
Grow Cook Eat - from the garden to the table, an urban gardener’s (new or seasoned) guide to seasonal cooking
Filed under: My favorite things
Many times when Friday rolls around and the time comes to start thinking about what I’m going to write I realize that I have no recollection of what I actually did all week. This week was especially bad with our intensely thick and gray days…without even a speck of sunlight. I must have gotten lost in the haze because I have nothing of much interest from the actual weekdays. So here’s a list of my faves from last weekend!
Kiss!
We made some yummy Snickerdoodles…
…and we shucked, and shucked, and shucked for some yummy Oysters Rockefeller
Filed under: Beauty, Bubbly, Chocolate, Clean, Health, My favorite things
François Pinon Vouvray / François Pralus Barre Infernale / White Coconut Crème tea / Josie Maran cream blush / Aquasana coutertop water filter / BibBon luxury eye mask (here too) / Abbaye de Belloc cheese / Organic cold pressed coconut oil
I’ve really been struggling with the whole Gift Guide thing this year. I started pulling some lists together back in November (as it’s usually one of my favorite projects), but seeing how things have unfolded this season, I can’t help but feel that it’s all gotten to be so painfully contrived. I’m no stranger to extravagant window shopping fantasies and trend alerts (and posts about them) but in this age of blog sponsors and affiliations I feel that so much has become so one note and disingenuous.
At first it made me sad, but then I settled on the best way I could think of to share the most genuine list of goodies that I could…and that was by listing some of my all-time favorite things in one post. Not a gift guide, but a collection of health and happiness in small and meaningful packages. Everything here I own, I use, I love. No wishlists, no trendy gift o’ the season: just my favorites from me to you, and maybe even someone you love.
So in an attempt to not sound too much like a Grinch…
here’s hoping you have a lovely holiday full of gifts and gift-giving that makes you feel happy and healthy.
Last weekend I got to escape to Portland for a few days to celebrate my b-day, which was actually yesterday. (What? Your birthdays don’t last a week?) While Andrew worked for part of the time I got to wander and laze around. I just love Portland. Here are some of my favorite bits of prolonged birthday bliss.
Kiss!
Tangerine’s in bed. I love the arrival of citrus season, and I love watching movies in bed. I also got caught up on daytime Cable TV…there’s not much good to watch, is there.
Bunk’s pork belly Cubano. God, I love a good sandwich; but jeez are they hard to find. The ones from Bunk are worth the hype…for once, something actually lives up to the hype!
A pocket full of posies at The Meadow. There are a million things to share from this store, but these sweet little posies made me smile.
Why has the power of the hot water bottle become so underestimated and underutilized? Seriously, I want to know because they are nothing short of magical. I remember in high school I would hide one in my sweatshirt pouch for football games. Unflattering, yes. But at least my fingers and tummy were cozy and warm. Oh, and once I had a sore back so Andrew created this awesomely strange contraption where he managed to fasten the hot water bottle to a back brace. I walked around the house with it for quite a while. Talk about unflattering.
In a more normal fashion, I rely on them to thaw my perpetually frozen toes and to help with aches and pains from running around the restaurant. I’m still not quite used to being on my feet so much so with my trusty bottle I’m snuggly and relaxed in record time after a long night at work. Of course they’re a drugstore staple but I thought this one here would make a great holiday giftie with the 100% lambswool cover (water bottle included). I wrap mine in a dish towel and pray it doesn’t come unwrapped, so this…this would be quite nice.
Available at Leif, $64.
