The Eat My Story event in Seattle was so much fun and went really well. The space was incredible–open, light, and a huge family style table. The cacophony of stories and ingredients were like eye candy. The colors and textures of the food, the sounds of our guests both filled the room with a whole new personality. They looked great with the personalized pizza peels I had made for each story too 
. BRITE made some great signs for the window as well as mini pins everyone was able to wear–they were so amazing to work with! I look forward to future collaborations with them!
(The pizza peels with each story’s ingredients piled on them:)
(BRITE made little pins everyone wore–I loved them!)
Each person took one of the peels–not their own story but someone else’s–and built that person’s story with the ingredients depicted on it. They were then able to prepare (chop, cut, and arrange) their ingredients, shape their pizza dough, and then have the pizza baker put it in the oven for just about one minute. Then as each pizza came out, we read the story that went with it aloud, sliced it up, and tasted it.
There was so much food there was a point most of us were sitting together at the table, waiting for the next round of pizzas to come out, and we were almost silent–like after a huge thanksgiving meal–in a food coma. We snapped out of it, looked at each other, and started to laugh–how can we possibly eat the next three rounds? Another 12 pizzas? ha! It was a ton of food.
The restaurant we had the event at was incredible. Via Tribunali is a local chain of pizza places in Seattle but originated in Naples. The recipes for their dough, their home-cured meats, pizza sauce, and even cheese is all from the original restaurant in Italy and is all made right on site. They do an excellent job! If you find yourself in Seattle, you should definitely stop by and eat there .
Cheers!
The Oregon coast tastes like salt. I think the Pacific is saltier than the Atlantic, but that is just me; it permeates the air, your clothes, your hair, and your nose. It corrodes everything in it’s path, it softens your skin and feels all around incredible. It stings while simultaneously cleansing both cuts on the body and of the heart. There is something about the ocean that instills a calmness in people for a moment of reflection. We need salt to stay alive, but some of us need the ocean to ground us and keep us moving through life. Salt really is pretty incredible!
I went to the coast with my mom, aunt, uncle, and cousin this weekend–it was a relaxing get away. I took walks on the beach each morning, finished a book, drank good wine, made a cobbler, you know–that kind of good stuff! The beach had tons of drift wood which was so interesting. Not only is is amazing wood for a fire (I’ve never had a fire start that easily and smell so good–it’s all pine!) but people have build small forts with the wood all along the beach over the years. Some of them are quite the architectural feat!
Something else we did was check out all the local junk and antique shops. They had great names like Stuff n’ Things or Trash n’ Treasures, it was a lot of fun. My mom has always been into finding “finds” at small shops like this, our house was always filled with little treasures and antiques growing up. I find that sometimes the hunt for the perfect thing can really stress me out! More often than not, I have a particular idea about what I need/want and when I can’t find it, I get frustrated. But that is the beauty of junk shopping, you just go with a running list of stuff you’d like to keep an eye out for, and usually it pops up at one point or another! Going with something in mind is a good way to set oneself up for failure–the treasure will reveal itself to you, usually not the other way around. My friend Chelsea, however, has junk shopping down to an art–she keeps me on task pretty good when we go .
(haha 
We ate well while there too. Good cheese, wine, and an amazing pasta dish I will be making for soon and sharing with you–a recipe via my aunt via her host family while she stayed in Italy years ago. We stopped at a little bakery and had a strawberry scone that had a salty undertone–to match the beach–and a cinnamon roll that was like eating a cloud–it was light, fluffy, and super cinnamon-y. I love a lot of cinnamon, check out the cinnamon rolls I made a while back, they are totally worth the trouble!
Hope you had a great weekend!
(This buffalo was wandering on the side of the road where I was able to get a close, but not too close, encounter and picture of him!)
On our way back from Montana, we drove through the United States first national park: Yellowstone. That was an amazing experience, full of things I had never seen before! Like buffalo…I had never seen one before this trip–sans the western paintings of the great plains with thousands of buffalo dotted across it (I swear the same picture was used in every single school social studies and American history books!). There were also hot mud springs, crazy rock formations, beautiful rivers, and vast plains, all nestled into the giant caldera in which Yellowstone sits.
(The caldera line is in light purple, it is a pretty big area)
Caldera is Spanish for a large cooking kettle/pot, but it also is the crater in which a volcano explodes out of. I thought the connection was quite nice and also a little exciting. We drove across this vast caldera which hasn’t exploded in a few thousand years, but if it did, it would dwarf the blast from Mt. Saint Helen’s that happened in the early 1980′s.
(Yellowstone river canyon)
One piece of advice I have if you ever trek into Yellowstone (or any other national park I am guessing) is take a picnic. Make some good sandwiches, a caprice salad with a hunk of fresh ciabatta, fresh fruit, juice, and plenty of water. Just bring what you want to eat. Food in and around the park is scarce and well, not very good. I had a terrible veggie sandwich at a stop in the park– it had been in the refrigerator for who knows how long and had that stale fridge taste, so sad. The beauty of the park made up for it completely though!
(The above two are of the hot mud volcanoes and sulfur springs–not extremely pleasant smelling but super interesting to see)
(This was a little town right before you enter the park from the NE entrance–I don’t think much had changed–sans the gas station–since the old west times, there was a super wide dirt road with some ramshackle stores, restaurants, and saloons along either side! Instead of horses tied up to posts, there were cars)
(Jenny Lake, part of Teton National Park which is just south of Yellowstone and a MUST SEE if you are already out there. It was so gorgeous and mountains like I’ve never seen before…)
I had made a bunch of goodies before we left for the drive out including my zucchini bread and a batch of banana bread–we also had a little cooler filled with some salami cold cuts, caprice salad made with heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and good mozzarella, the kind that comes in the small little balls, and some sandwiches made with cheddar cheese, heirloom tomato, Dijon mustard, vegenaise, and crunchy lettuce (Andrew had some of the salami on his), there were also two really ripe nectarines–one of my favorite summer fruits. If only we had had such a feast on the way through the park! But, you live and you learn and now we all know to bring a picnic if going to a national park!
Cheers!
I went on a spur-of-the-moment trip last week to Montana. As a native east coast gal, I had yet to experience the full flavor the west has to offer. However, I now feel quite versed in the western palate! –pun intended of course. We went to Red Lodge, a town in the south-central part of the state. Fly fishing was the main attraction, so I tried it. It was pretty fun, being in a river and casting, I can see how it becomes a religion for some–you could really zen out, out there. However, after an hour or so of doing it, I got really cold and the sandwiches in our picnic lunch were calling my name, then my book looked really good too:).
(Oh ya, I also had this little treat at City Bakery, pretty scrumptious;)
(A collection of the old candy bar wrappers)
The next day I went into town and did a little touring. I talked with the baker at the City Bakery about his cream puffs. True to form, I wanted to know what he put in them, so I asked. Well hon, he said, I use a lot of eggs, and real cream, only real cream–and that was all I needed to know! I promptly bought one and it was delicious! I then went into the old-fashioned candy store marveling over how little has probably changed in the 80 or so years it has been open (other than the inventory of course;). I even walked up to the old train depot which has been turned into an arts and culture center–let’s just say there were a lot of paintings of buffalo, cattle, and sunsets–there’s a lot of that out there!
This is going to be a busy month too! The Pietopia winners have been chosen, I will post about them when I get the prints from the designers in. Then, Pietopia will be held on August 20th at the Eastbank Farmers Market. If you are in town, you should stop by for a taste of the winners pies/lives! I also am doing a meal for a young woman who I did a favorite for. She asked me to do a Thank You meal for all of the inspirational people in her life who helped her to her recovery. I am also doing a birthday party at a farmers market for a group of “selective” eaters who range from 3-6 years old–I like a good challenge:).
More to come on this western trip! We then went to Yellowstone afterwords, pretty amazing!
There is a beautiful park in Seattle (one of many in the city) nestled right in the heart of the Capital Hill neighborhood. About a block from the park is one of the cities most charming cafe’s, simply named Volunteer Park Cafe. It’s huge windows let in a tremendous amount of light (important in a city where sun is scarce) which bounces off the warm wood floors, tables, and huge oak bar. There is a big main table down the center of the cafe, a community table, where people sit in groups. They serve their pizzas on wood pizza peels, their garlic french fries in antique tin buckets, and have an array of flowers dotted down the tables in various jars, bowls, and cups, looking like they were picked right from the owner’s yard that very morning. The big community table in restaurants is nothing new but is always interesting to be a part of or people watch. My evening at Volunteer Park Cafe not only spurred on new found friendships, but was an amazing meal to boot. Was it the relaxing, cozy, euro-esk environment, the big community table, great company, or just great ingredients that made this meal taste so good? A little of all the above I would imagine. After all, they do go hand in hand!
(Hazelnut, fried goat cheese, and pear salad…a classic)
The interesting question is why do they go so well together? Like peas in a pod, environment can be crucial to how we think something tastes or how we like something at all. Any restaurateur will tell you this is true and lives by it at their own restaurant; the restaurant, after all, conveys a message through its decor and design. But I am thinking more along the lines of the millions of people who eat whatever is put in front of them at any place or any time, without giving it two cents of thought. True, when we are hungry, sometimes that primal urge gets the best of us and we must eat! However, somewhere along the way, I feel like people have lost that urge to connect through food, both with themselves and others. In such a high tech, individualized, and self-sufficient world, this idea has seemed to evaporate as we connect more and more through less tactile means: the internet, texting, twitter, etc. This also, is nothing new. But I find myself reflecting on it frequently, especially when I think about my own passion about food, people, and connections. Am I a product of my generation, back lashing to the intense amount of time I/we spend in front of a computer and away from human interaction? Maybe. But, maybe not. Food has always given me a visceral response. I can remember tastes and textures as some of my first memories as a baby. When I was about eight years old, I tried to explain how much I loved the taste of a certain cake to my mother by telling her it was like the reaction a pack of wolves have with fresh meat. Pounce! I must have it! Geeze, was all she said, tilting her head and giving me a strange look. That moment, along with several others, I knew that my relationship with taste and the kitchen was different than most. It was and still is a driving force. Only now, it drives me to not only make food, but make it in a way that brings us to the present, to think about the here, the now, and explore some things a little deeper. And that is even more rewarding for me than a slice of cake .
(Our end of the table, and a glass of my favorite seasonal wine type, Rose)
(Copious amounts of gumballs on the counter for an after dinner treat!)
What do you do with left over five foot long bread? French toast! While in Seattle this weekend, I stayed with some lovely family and as a thank you, I made them breakfast the following morning for being such gracious hosts!
Big Bread French Toast
6-12 eggs, depending on how thick your slices of bread are and how hard they are (I used close to a dozen eggs for about 8 pieces, but they were thick and hearty)
1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 capful of vanilla extract
Whisk together ingredients in a big bowl. Place your first few slices in there and let them soak up the mixture for a few minutes. Warm up your pan with a good sized pat of butter, place the slices on the pan with heat on medium to low heat. Brown on both sides until done. You might want to check the middles if they were especially thick slices to make sure it’s cooked through. While cooking, soak the next round of bread in the egg mixture!
Berry Compote
If you have some fresh berries around, clean and cut them up to serve with it. Take half of them and mash with a potato masher and/or fork for a nice compote to spread over the french toast!
Eggs a la Julia
3-4 eggs (serves 2)
3 tablespoons half and half or heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter, approx.
Coat a small skillet with butter all along the bottom and sides. Combine eggs and cream in a bowl. With a fork, gently stab each egg until broken, but not whisked! Just break the yolks gently and pour the egg mixture into the pan. Turn on low heat and cook for about 10 minutes. After you notice it beginning to cook, gently pick up the skillet every now and then to move the egg mixture on top around. You will not be disappointed with these eggs!
This weekend we made a trip up to explore Seattle and it’s surroundings. One of the first things we did was take the ferry out to Vashon Island. This one-stoplight wonder of a place charmed the socks off of me. Our first stop was the Vashon Island Growers Market (held every Saturday). There we found delicious treats like this fresh frittata with chard and lotus blossoms. We found it at the Sun Island Farm booth, run by a lovely family with the dad making frittatas and the mom and kids running the “front”.
Another booth I stopped at was Barbara’s Chocolates. I was lured over because, well, there were baked goods there. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find these delectable little chocolates that were divine. Barbara told me she makes them fresh in her production kitchen and decorates them right on Vashon!
We then wandered over to the islands Tea House. The owner told me that when she serves people tea in a proper teacup, they act differently, as opposed to a mug or a little Japanese cup. She said they become a bit calmer and definitely quieter as they sip their tea out of a dainty teacup. How interesting! I’ve wondered about that myself…
Vashon surprised me! I honestly didn’t know what to expect when we went there (initially to check out some of Andrew’s old haunts and the abandoned K2 complex) but am so happy we did. I love impromptu connections, stories, and exchanges that happen; the warm and grounded people on Vashon were truly fantastic.
(From the Vashon Growers Market, we wandered into town where the islands one stoplight resides. I noticed some great signage that happened to belong to one of the islands art galleries, Valise. I chatted with one of the owners who was extremely warm and helpful and gave us tips about some other great places to see.)
(A great malt shop I was told! but this is the sign is the only thing left of it!)
