Dinner with Good Friends

Joy Wood is an amazing cook.  Last night she and Mary created a feast for friends Mark and Dirk, Cherese and me. The apps were roasted cherry tomatoes on naan along with tzatziki.  That could have been the meal, but no, then came the chicken curry over perfectly steamed rice. The salad was greens mixed with more home grown tomatoes and orange. And then.....the made with love Apple Pie topped with vanilla ice cream, recipe from Cooks Illustrated.

And also topping off the festivities was the donning of the tiaras.  Joy presented everyone with a tiara in recognition of the collective forces of nature that enabled all of us to move through the previous 12 months and come out the other side - healthy.  The boys looked particularly handsome in theirs.

Two Days on Bainbridge

We just returned from two days on Bainbridge, staying with Paula (Dina's in Santa Clara). Here's Sally, taking a rest in the goat pen.  She was not welcome and eventually got butted by Kate, the leader of the pack. The weather was perfect, in the 80's.  Their home is surrounded by gardens - flowers, fruits and vegetables.  We loaded up with tomatoes for brushetta and apples for pies. 

                                                        Happy days.

Sun Dogs

Wicked is in town

And that means our dear friend Amy Tepel is here for a month along with her husband, Boko who is the musical conductor.  Amy's the 1st ASM.  Her birthday was Sunday (a two show day) so we had them over on Monday night along with friends Karen and Mo.  Cherese, Karen and Amy were on the road together with Les Miserables for 3 years from 1988 - 1991. Karen was the person who read my letter to Cherese when I responded to her ad where she was looking for a place to stay while in town with Les Miserable in 1991. Karen put her hand on my letter and said, "Call this woman. I have a feeling about this." And so she did.  (This was before email.) Amy's been on the road with various shows pretty much since then with some time home in Denver on her lovely spread in the mountains.  She and Boko married last year and he is delicious!  It really was a perfect evening with old friends.  People who no matter how long it's been, you pick right up.  It feels rich.

Amy brought crab cakes she had made, we grilled trout we got at the Pike's market, corn off the cob salad, brushetta (can't waste those home grown tomatoes), jicama salad, guacamole and quinoa salad.  And of course, the birthday trifle.

Sally enjoying the party

Sunday Morning at Pike's Market

Normally nothing gets in the way of Sunday morning, NYTimes and coffee, but this morning we headed to the Pike's market at 9:30AM  to shop for trout and vegetables.  And then, at 11AM we met Dina coming off the boat from Bainbridge where she handed off a flat of tomatoes, a basket of apples and squash from their garden.  We gave her brownies and cake to take on her road trip. She's on her way to Minneapolis, driving her truck to she can hitch her new purchase to it - a 1965 Streamline trailer - and drive it back.

Tonight we reaped the rewards of the home grown tomatoes and made brushetta. The baquette came from Essential bakery and it tasted like it had just come out of the oven.  We called Donna Williams, our food expert who lives in Austin, TX., when we were faced with rows and rows of olive oils at Delaurentis.  We decided to buy the best, or near best and asked for her advice.  She recommended Frantoia.  I put a little olive oil on the bread, broiled it and added the tomatoes that cut been cut and tossed with a mix of olive oil, red wine vinegar, basil, salt/pepper. I mixed the tomatoes really well, making a delicious juice that soaked into the bread.  Could there be a better meal....I don't think so.  

Soup

Today was cloudy and rained a bit.  Fall is coming.  Cherese made chicken soup with matzo balls and took two jars to neighbors who just had twins.   Tomorrow morning we're going to the Pike's market to buy corn and avocados...maybe some trout. We watched Frost Nixon and just walked the dogs. I'm still cleaning my office/sewing room....it never ends. 

Riding the Rails

Friday was a perfect day.  After short walk from my office to the South Lake Union Trolley, we hopped on for a quick 15 minute ride to Westlake Center.

From there we headed down the stairs under Nordstrom to the bus tunnel and boarded the new light rail, taking it to the end of the line in Tukwila and back.  The ride was great! It was a perfect Seattle day - blue sky, warm.  Besides being able to get to the airport and back quickly, stopping at the various neighborhood stations lets you see the variety of art displayed at each stop.  A must see are three 10- by 35-foot murals by Roger Shimomura, Fay Jones and Gene Gentry McMahon at the Westlake Center.

                                              Gene Gentry McMahon
Once we were off the rails, we headed to Serious Pie at 3rd and Lenora. http://www.tomdouglas.com/ where we happened to get there during happy hour, which means $5.00 pizzas!  We started with the warm figs on blue cheese and balsamic and an order of beets, anchovy, pistachios, mint.  Heaven. 

Then we had two mini pizzas: buffalo mozzarella with san marzano tomato and roasted mushroom with truffle cheese.  The crust is the perfect combination of dough and air, dusted with flecks of cornmeal. 

A two block walk and we were back on the trolley heading to my office where we left our car.  This was the perfect day.

Sally Napping

First Thursday

                                                           

I'm taking a couple days off from work - no email, no phones. We went to first Thursday and did the gallery walk in Pioneer Square.  Ate at Cafe Paloma - Yum. Danced to a live band in Occidental Square surrounded by all the artists selling their art.  The music was waltz and swing.  Lots of good dancing on a perfect summer night.

                                                            

Hemming jeans - how to keep the original hem

I just finished hemming a pair of jeans, but I kept the original hem intact.  It's easy! Follow the directions/tutorial on dacia ray's link. http://www.daciaray.com/

Time to Blog about life's good things

Every so often I do something, see something, eat or wear something and it's worth noting. Like now, I'm roasting broccoli on the grill and making a tasty salad dressing - something new that I got from Michael. 1/4 cup olive oil with 2 TBL champagne vinegar, 1 tsp mustard and 1/4 tsp each salt & pepper. Mix and throw on greens, etc. I used it on a corn salad. We've had it many times since I first made it about a month ago. Gotta go check the broccoli.