1) Between the end of winter and the slow start of spring, it's pretty easy to get jaded about cooking. The farmers market still only has potatoes, kale, turnips, and if your lucky - some onions and carrots. And even the freezer stash of peppers, broccoli, ginger, peas, and corn is starting to become monotonous. It feels a bit like I'm in hibernation, patiently waiting for summer vegetables.
2) Alex and I are getting married this summer!! So I've been totally preoccupied by wedding planning.
Alex and I have also been eating out more than usual - partially because our cooking inspiration is in a lull, and partially because we've had some sun here in Seattle and we chase it any chance we get! Here's some quick restaurant reviews of where we've been hanging out lately:
Skillet - If Alex and I ever created our own restaurant, this would probably be it. Creative breakfast and breakfast-inspired foods all day long. The bacon jam on their burgers is amazing, and we swear there's a secret ingredient in the french fries (coconut oil?!). Also, Skillet is conveniently located on the South-West corner of Union & 14th Ave. and they have floor-to-ceiling windows, which makes this an excellent spot to be on a sunny day!
Captain Blacks - It looks like an itty bitty little ramshackle pirate-themed bar, until you walk out on their gigantic West-facing deck... this is the spot to be on a sunny day!! Oh and also, they have a pretty decent beer selection and you can often find a Skillet truck right next door.
Kimchi Bistro - We went here for our friend, Kris's birthday and OMG this is some of the best Korean food I've ever had! We need to go here more often!
Pinky's Pig & Chips - It's a food truck located in the parking lot of the gas station next to the liquor store in Wallingford. This place is run by two guys from Detroit who seem to have found they're calling in life and they're stoked about it. They will blow your mind with their sassy molassy sauces and their meats will undoubtedly induce a multidimensional flavorgasm. Oh and their sandwiches are huge, especially for the cheap price! I definitely recommend starting with a slider and working your way up to a full size sandwich.
Wedding planing has largely consisted of foody things so far, of course. I'm totally stoked to be working with Madres Catering, they're a smaller company run by three mothers who simply love to cook and live by the motto, "Find a job you love and you'll never work another day in your life". They focus on local/in-season ingredients, they have strong influences from Latin American cuisine, and they're excited to accommodate all my ridiculous requests like using only Skagit River Valley Ranch meats and severing homebrew made by us and our friends!
For dessert, it's not official yet, but Trophy Cupcakes is the plan.
What else is edible at a wedding? Flowers, of course! I'm growing all the flowers for our wedding, so I know they're edible and organic. And since there's a lot of text in this post, I think it's high time I posted some pictures. Here's what my edible flowers look like so far - from top to bottom: Marigolds, Red Calendula seedling, Yellow Calendula that came back from last year, Pink Daisy's and Sweet Cicily that also came back from last year. In addition to these, I've also planted Dahlias, Day Lillies, Nasturtiums, Dianthus, Bachelor Buttons, Chives, and all sorts of Brassicas. ...this should be a delicious wedding indeed!
This might be my favorite sentence ever used in a description of a restaurant: "It's a food truck located in the parking lot of the gas station next to the liquor store in Wallingford."
ReplyDeleteNice to read about wedding plans. Can I do anything to help?