Cheese, Baby

I woke up today and realized that May is getting closer( note: c-l-o-s-e-r, I didn't say close or soon, but I am trying to pretend that better weather is just around the corner). What does May mean? Yes, the annual cheese festival is coming up. I remember that last year, I had a dilemma. Should I go to the cheese festival or should I go to University District Fair? Both events were the same weekend. Last year I chose the cheese festival but this time, I will try to make it to both.


Seattle Cheese Festival
May 16-18
Pike Place Market
There will be chef demos, wine tastings, cheese tastings and a mozzarella making demo at DeLaurenti.

The University District Fair
May 17-18
There will be lots of entertainment and nearly 400 craft and food booths.

Has anyone attended any of these? Please feel free to leave your comments.

Bits of Foodie Stuff

Michael Rhulman puts together a list of chef blogs which can be quite handy on those "I need inspiration days"...

Michael from Herbivoracious will review Txori and calls bloggers to post reviews on their blogs too....

Tips on how to open a beer with your forearm on Chowhound

More Jamaica

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

A little while ago I went on a cruise to the Cayman Islands and to Jamaica. Since I only had one day in Jamaica, I wanted to make the most of it. We started our day at Dunn's River Falls, huge waterfalls in which you have the pleasure of actually walking through the waterfalls. I have never experienced anything of this sort before, breathtaking beauty and refreshing showers of crystal clear water. A two for one package.
Hubby and I worked up an appetite with a little jet ski on the beach and quickly looked for another beach to stop for lunch.
The next beach had to meet our criteria for fun....reggae music, happy people and some great food. That is just what we got. We sipped some Pina Colada and ordered the Jamaican Jerk Chicken that was being barbecued on the beach. Curvy women shook their booties in the middle of the beach while we devoured the spicy chicken.
Jamaican Jerk Chicken is a barbecued chicken seasoned with Jamaican All Spice which is Jamaican pimento. The seasoning also includes Scotch Bonnet peppers and various spices such as cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and thyme. The allspice is placed over coals to give it that unique spicy flavor. I really couldn't find too much information about how the chicken is made so if you know anything, please feel free to add your take on things.
The fact that it came with fries was a bonus because I find that fries are the perfect beach snack. I need to be really hungry to eat fries and the sun always gets me into the French fry mood.
What a day of Jammin'! Yeah, Man!

Seasoned Seattle A Restaurant Promotion That Celebrates the Classics

April is almost here and it's time for another restaurant promotion. This time it's called Seasoned Seattle.
The restaurants participating have all been around since 1988 (or even before). It's a slick opportunity to sample some classic Seattle favorites or just return to the places that you already love.

The deal: A Two course dinner for 25 dollars. You can choose between an appetizer and an entree or an entree and a dessert.

The restaurants:
13 Coins – Downtown
Anthony’s HomePort - Kirkland
Elliott’s Oyster House
The Fishermans Restaurant & Bar
The Georgian
Il Bistro
Ivar’s Acres of Clams Pier 54
Lombardi’s Neighborhood Italian - Ballard
The Madison Park Café
Queen City Grill
Salty’s Alki Beach Seafood Grill
Shuckers

The promotion will run from April 1st- April 30th, Sunday through Thursday.

For more info, click here

Happy Omelette

Here I made an omelette using all the herbs that I had at home. I used fruit leather for the mouth.
Fruit leather tastes great warm. Who knew?

Eating Like A Foodie Most of the Time

Yes I am a foodie.
My eyes sparkle at the sight of a homemade dish that I have not yes experienced.
My nose can sniff melted butter from miles away. I don't eat as much as I want to. I am very careful about what I eat 80% percent of the day so that I can eat what I want to during the rest of the time. I eat lots of whole grains and insane amounts of vegetables.
Here are my foodie rules.

1. I would rather butter over sugar. Butter doesn't cause me to feel guilty. Sugar makes
me feel hungry and tired.
2. I never eat soup at restaurants unless it is a really good restaurant and I know that they make the soup from scratch.
3. I am slightly lactose intolerant but I will eat any dairy products when out of the house. I will not risk getting a stomach ache for processed cheese or fake milk products. I will risk a stomach ache for risotto any day of the week.
4. I almost never have any cookies in my house unless they are homemade or really good store-bought cookies. There is no way that I would risk my foodie calories for some boring cookie.
5. At home I only drink water.

Note: I try to live by these rules but I tend to break them sometimes. Nobody is perfect.


What are your foodie rules?




For more about foodie lifestyles....

I will be Away for the Week

I will be away for the week. I will write when I get back...
Have a great week!

Join the Seattle Pride Show

The pride was oozing out of the panel's ears. Want to be proud of Seattle?
The recipe is simple…Invite charismatic Seattle Chefs. Tom Douglas (Dahlia Lounge, Palace Kitchen, and so many more), Thierry Rautureau (Rover's) and Holly Smith (Cafe Juanita). Make sure to add John Rowley, seafood expert extraordinaire, Martin Johnson (Chateau St Michelle Winery) for all the wine you need to know and David Schomer (Espresso Vivace) to talk coffee and get the crowd laughing in unison. Finish your masterpiece with experience from Greg Atkinson (chef, food journalist and cooking instructor) and package it all by Jim Poris, editor of Food Arts Magazine.

It seems like the Research Chefs Association knew just who to invite to speak at the Culinology Conference about Pacific Northwest Cuisine. The tune went a little something like this….
We got the Pike Place Market, 100 restaurants in 3 blocks, easy to eat fresh, local,
seasonal, restaurants that serve strawberries only when in season, and last
but not least a "sophisticated, salmon, savvy market" (thanks, John Rowley).


From the audience, questions about Seattle's modesty arose. Why doesn't Seattle need to boast? How is it that this city is always being discovered? The answer was rather simple, said in so many diplomatic ways, Seattle has the attitude of a small town and we like it that way!

If only the energy of this panel could be condensed into a tiny pill and given to the Seattleite that dares to complain about the rain, lack of light or anything else that people here like to grouch about!

We have the whole Pike Place Market in our hands!

My Favorite Vegetable Soup

This is my favorite vegetable soup recipe. This soup is titled "Provencal Vegetable Soup" and it comes from The Joy of Cooking. I actually removed some of the ingredients from the recipe to make it quicker. I removed the pistou (French Pesto) which I think is unnecessary. I also removed the pasta in the recipe. The recipe calls for 2 handfuls of broken thin spaguetti which you can add with the zucchini at the end until cooked.
When I make a vegetable soup, I like it to be full of vegetables and very low calorie. This is the kind of soup that you can eat bowl after bowl without feeling heavy. The saffron adds a touch of gold to the recipe.

Provencal Vegetable Soup or Soupe Au Pistou(Adapted from The Joy of Cooking)
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 large rib celery, chopped

2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 small potato, peeled and chopped
8 cups of water
2 teaspoons of salt
Pinch of saffron

1 small zucchini (peeled and chopped)

1. Heat the oil
2. Add the first group of ingredients and cook until tender, not browned(5 to 10 minutes)
3. Stir in the second group of ingredients.
4. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.
5. Stir in small zucchini. Simmer a little longer.

Awakening of the Palate

I wrote an article for this month's (Cult)ure magazine. It is all about new ways to awaken your palate. Some of the ideas include lavender desserts and bacon chocolate. Sometimes all I need to hear is the name of a food combination and I am in the kitchen experimenting.


Give me some ideas....

BOOM- Bloggers That Make You Go Boom!

The last Seattle Food Blogger Meetup was at Boom Noodle. Boom is the new noodle joint in Capitol Hill.

Food Bloggers (the order in which we sat):
Lara from Cook and Eat
Ronald from Cornichon
Katrin from Simply Culture
Seadevi from Capitol Hill Triangle
Matthew Amster-Burton (Mamster) from Roots and Grubs
Lesa from The Pink Hobart
Mohini from Mango Power Girl
Layla from laylita

There were also a few lucky husbands who attended (a wife that cooks is always a plus)!

As usual the foodie gossip didn't stop. Restaurant names were being thrown around, we exchanged gifts and someone even got bacon salt. I am pretty sure that every blogger I know has tasted bacon salt by now.

Looking forward to see all the foodies again soon, thanks guys!

Culinology Expo

The Culinology Expo and Conference is in a couple days....

Tickets can be purchased on site during registration hours.

Hint: Useful for culinary students looking for job opportunities in food companies

What I Made This Week... Some Vegan stuff!

A little about my week....

In my kitchen: I have been making a once weekly Challah bread (3 weeks so far) but since I haven't achieved true perfection yet, I will spare you the recipe. One time, it was too dry, another time not ready on the inside, though each time it was good enough to be devoured to the last crumb by my husband, friends and myself.

In my vegan world: Yeah, yeah, no way I could be a vegan but it happens to be that a lot of people that I know are vegan (many of my friends from yoga). This week I made vegan brownies and vegan thumbprint cookies filled with a delicious vegan coconut chocolate spread.
The brownies: I have linked the recipe to the brownies. The cooking time is much longer than specified. The brownies are great for vegans but not sure it they would be my top choice. If you are a vegan, you will love them!

My cookies tasted good but came out a bit sloppy(I was overtired!) The amazing chocolate coconut spread is from a company called Love Street Living Foods. The taste is addictive with a nice hint of coconut. A friend of mine said that she doesn't like coconut and still loved it. It's 100 percent organic too.
Unfortunately, you can only get the vegan chocolate products online at this point.
I made challah rolls filled with this chocolate spread(baked them with chocolate inside) last week. That was a great idea!
The white stuff you see in some of the cookies is halva, another favorite of mine for dessert.

Gotta go cook, bye...