Happy New Year

Well Happy New Year, sorry for the lack of posts on my part. Might as well explain myself, for those who care. A few things contributed to this...First came the start of the holidays which if you are going out to eat then you just haven't gotten invited to enough holiday parties. This time of year is perfect for overeating small snacks and hearty comfort foods. So, first there was Jive Turkey 2008 an annual holiday party that I have attended for the last few years hosted at T's posh West Seattle digs. This year was pretty amazing...nothing like over eating, drinking and dancing in someones living room.

appetizers included m.'s special deviled eggs, they were bomb

picture of my plate mac and cheese, stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes,
brussel sprouts. so glad my friends can really cook! Shout out to the amateur chefs

Second up was the great Seattle Snow Storm of 2009 which caused me to barely leave my home for a week and a half. Therefore going out to eat wasn't a top priority. Now, I love a snow day here and there just as much as the next guy. Waking up and running to the window in hopes that school would be closed is a fond memory of mine from growing up in Wisconsin. My current job operates on the same schedule as Seattle public schools, so I was out of work for a week and a half. Wow. I will give the city a D on how well they performed in this weather.

picture of snow at cal anderson park by my house
later that week i shared a nice cup of hot chocolate spiked with everclear with l.
ps. dont ever try this drink

One thing we did do during the blizzard was make a gingerbread house...it was a lot harder than I thought and quite messy. L. was not sure what the point was but by the end, we ended up making an amazing piece of artwork and having a good time.

if you cant tell from the theatrical lighting this was inspired by the
infamous stop motion animation flick Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Third, it was Christmas Day dinner at my Mom's. Everyone in the family was in charge of bringing a dish. I seem to have forgotten to take a pic of the apps, by B. which were really nice spreads as well as the kick ass sundae bar prepared by little B. Great job by all, I must say.

I made cornish game hens stuffed with bacon cornbread, L. made broccoli mashed potatoes,
other L. made polenta with veggie chorizo, and B.'s mac and chesse and squash.

And FINALLY, I have been on a detox since January 5th, a raw food detox to be more specific. The eve of starting the insane detox I shared a "good-bye cooked food" meal with some close friends at Honey Court. I also purchased some of their chili hot sauce to go. I cannot wait to eat that after the detox.

you know the regular stuff: chow mein, honey walnut prawns
aka mayo covered swimming rats and a few other things like the
interesting ginger chicken that is front and center of the photo.

Now on a solid day 6 of this raw diet I feel pretty good, a bit tired but not hungry. I also got a cold, which I am sure is because all the stuff is trying to leave my body. Needless to say it makes it really hard to go out to eat. A quick idea of what I have been eating includes: raw cereal made up of raw almonds, shredded apple, shredded coconut, a little honey, cinnamon and a splash of almond milk. This is actually so good, I do plan on eating this when the detox ends. If you want to check out some of the recipes check this site. I mean Rawchos? WOW. Another item I enjoyed was the raw spaghetti I made the other night which is pictured below.

Rawghetti

A final, big shout out to Juice It in downtown Seattle who hooked me up an amazing raw lunch today. I did however forget to take my phone for any pics. The place is a hidden gem for those trying to eat raw or healthy downtown. I will be back to dining out soon enough. I have a list of places I have wanted to check out.

See you soon.

"i'll have a dirty bacon martini, rocks, two pearl onions"

have you ever wondered what mutant baby would emerge from a $20 gallon of vodka, a trip to safeway, and an extreme admiration (well, longing. i am vegetariana, mind you.) of bacon? if so, read on...

every year i make a special liquer around the holidays to bring to parties. the first year i made a coffee and brown sugar (oh lord, the hangover!) vodka which was delicious. the next year i made something similar with the addition of cinnamon and a 100 proof base (too strong!). coffee used to be my go-to, but this year i wanted to experiment with some more creative flavors.

i thought about skittles-, apple pie-, lavendar-, caraway-, shoot, even parmiggiano-flavored liquer! in the end it seemed almost criminal not to attempt a bacon vodka. think of the possibilities: bacon bloody mary, bacon martini, bacon shots! who cares, right!?! anyhow, it's only been a day, but we'll see how this monstrosity turns out come saturday.

ah, delectable bacon in all its thick-cut, smoky glory. i cut the bacon into thin slivers to that once fried up, it would be easy to funnel the tasty bites into a bottle.

i started the bacon out cooking on high to start a good sear. after the fat started to sizzle, i turned it down to medium-low to render as much fat out of it as possible. i had no idea what i was doing, but i figured the dryer the bacon, the less unappetizing fat globules would be floating around in my vodka.

after letting as much grease soak into a napkin as possible, i transfered the bacon bits to a glass container, threw in some peppercorns, and drowned the mixture in (80 proof) vodka.

mmm, bacon-quarium.

so i lied. yesterday i made my pathetic first attempt at bacon vodka. as you can see by comparing today's batch with yesterday's, today i rendered out more fat and cooked the bacon more thoroughly.

these bad boys are getting a good shaking at least thrice a day until it's time to unleash these grotesque mutants on the world. and by "the world," i mean "my friends."

hopefully it won't taste like a fart, but only time will tell.

salty's brunch: best office party ever

{click to enlarge}

the best thing to happen to my annual office christmas party was the office manager's decision to do brunch at salty's instead of dinner at some seattle restaurant institution. i was so gleefully anticipating brunch that crab puff fairies and oysters danced in my dreams. salty's, you did not disappoint!

my eyes were overwhelmed with mountains of shrimp and crab legs cascading over a bed of ice. there was a warmer of clarified butter to my left, and a giant steel martini-shaped container overflowing with cocktail sauce. the crab legs were sweet, succulent, and rich with briney sea-flavor. wowzers. i hadn't had dungeness in such a long time...and WOW.


clams. mussels. butter. need i say more??


this was my first plate: pineapple, oysters, horseradish, cocktail sauce, salmon mousse, red onions/capers, gravlox, shrimp, and crab legs. i wrapped salmon mousse, red onions, capers, and horseradish in gravlox. mmm.


eggs bene. a brunch classic. i don't really do eggs, but suge said it was tasty.

my second plate, you'll see some familiar faces: gravlox, capers/red onion, crab legs, potatoes o'brien, and macaroni and cheese (i picked out the numerous buttons of sausage, they were so cute!).

juicy ham, carved just for you! the ham station was embedded amongst desserts....so suge went with a mini waffle, syrup, and slices of ham.

seafood paella! i didn't get down with the rice because i knew it would fill me up like no other, but it sure looked good! and i saw people go back for seconds of it.

suge's final plate: ham, bacon, gravlox, sausage mac and cheese, waffle with whipped butter, and a dainty cream puff.

the cake stands were so cute and festive for the holiday brunch that i had to capture it for you k&s readers.

lemon tarts! perfectly sweet and sour. i love lemon bars, and these were so dainty and deceivingly filling that i figured i could at least have one to help cap off my meal.

the spice cake had these little crabapples adorning each slice, and i thought they were camphone worthy. i snagged that one apple in the bottom of the frame out of curiosity. they're carefully baked and basted with a light simple syrup. sweet and mellow.

the pumpking pies were adorable. there had to have been at least 50 of them scattered on the platter. i wish i had my real camera so that i could snap a wider photo and used it at stationary!
last, but not least, i had to make use of the decadently cheesy chocolate fountain. i am opposed to these three levels of billowing chocolate simply because they're so lame, however, i felt compelled by the spirit of k&s. i have to say, the strawberries were damn good.

thanks salty's! high five!

1936 Harbor Ave SW

Seattle, WA 98126

(206) 937-1600

Thanksgiving in Renton

Well I didn't have to cook a damn thing but some chex mix for my thanksgiving meal, my brother held down the rest. We rolled out to Renton to enjoy some family and some great food. My brother knows how to cook, that is truth.

Check out the plate:

To dissect the plate here are some photos.
Cranberry Sauce:

The cranberry sauce, homemade, was amazing. I could eat that sauce straight up on some crackers or something. It had the perfect tartness and savory spice. As a matter of fact, I shoulda got that recipe.

Brussel Sprouts:
I like brussel sprouts but these were on a whole new level. The way they were prepared was new to me. They were cooked down and seperated which made them a lot easier to eat that is for sure. He also mixed them up with some spice and some diced apples. Great dish.

Mashed Potatoes and Dressing:

Classic taste on two classic dishes. The potatoes were so fluffy and perfect and the dressing had that kick ass combo of soft bread and crispy outside. I think I had more potatoes on my plate than anything else.

Squash:
My mom makes the best squash but this was a close second. The way the squash was cut and layered like au gratin potatoes was unique. This preparation cooked the vegetable evenly and allowed the flavors to really get into the squash. Good taste.



THE TURKEY WAS AMAZING. The way he cooked it in a bath of broth in a really deep pan made the meat so soft and tender. We also got down on an organic turkey which you can honestly tell the difference. The meat had a consistency that you are not going to find in a regular bird. I kept eating more turkey even though I felt like my stomach was going to explode. Damn, I might go buy a turkey tomorrow just to cook another one this way.

I did leave with a nice tray of leftovers, which I plan to make some sweet sandwiches. He also sent me home with the turkey carcass and I am going to make some soup...can't wait.

Oh dessert you ask? Well I didnt have any but a cheesecake and that good ol' dahlia lounge coconut cream pie were served. Right now I think I could go for some but that is almost 7 hours after dinner.

Good times, thanks fam.