Petty Vices

Infused sugars

The March 2009 edition of Food & Wine magazine has some enticing foodie items pointed out in their "news & notes" section. One in particular that caught my eye is the spiked sugars from Allstar Organics, who sells compelling sugar (& salt!) sets like the following:

While their flavors sound compelling  -- Rose Petal, Lavender and Spearmint sugar -- I think the price of $36 for a set of three 6.5 ounce jars is a bit steep.

If you're feeling flush with cash -- congratulations! and go sugar shopping...if not, though, consider making your own. I found some good recipes from Lynne Smythe on Suite 101 that will get you started.

A good source for food-grade flower petals and herbs is Layla's Shop on Etsy; note, too, that she sells a quarter-pound of lavender sugar for $5.00. We work at the same company so I can vouch for the quality of her goods. Excellent stuff.

Herbs By Diane on Etsy also offers culinary rose petals, lavender, spearmint and more for good prices.

If you're more of a savory person, you'll find some interesting flavored salt recipes from the Steamy Kitchen -- Curry, Matcha Green Tea, Citrus and more (thanks, Kim Vallee, for the link).

Have you ever made infused sugar or salt? Do you have some recipes or suggestions to share? I'd love to see photos of packaging ideas. I'm considering making wedding favors of sugar or salt...

California SqueezeBurger

In listening to a Splendid Table podcast I have learned of a Sacramento, California phenomenon from the Squeeze Inn, called the squeezeburger (you can listen to their review here). This is a burger that I am considering planning a vacation around! Evidently they take some very good beef, top it with a big hunk of very good cheddar cheese, and then as the cheese melts on the burger patty it melts down onto the grill, and they let it fry and get crispy and it ends up surrounding the entire patty and sticking out of the bun like a little cheese innertube. Perhaps a picture is worth a million words here.

See what I mean? I'll call my holiday The Great SqueezeBurger Trek of 2008. It will be epic.

Good eats (sorry, Alton)

Good stuff to eat & drink -- this weekend -- and beyond!

Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon is the first such event in the Emerald City, and sounds like a delicious way to celebrate the Bastille Day weekend. It takes place Sunday, July 13, from 11:00-5:00 at the waterfront's Bell Harbor Conference Center. $20 gets you all tastings and demonstrations (free for kids under $6 and 1/2 price for 1/2 pints aged 6-12).

Speaking of Bastille Day, THE place to celebrate in Seattle IMHO is Le Pichet, my absolute favorite French bistro in the city, who is hosting their annual Bastille Day bash on Monday, July 14 -- from 6:00 p.m. 'til "late."

The Eat With Me blog has fantastic photos and recipes; his grilled corn method is just how my fiance does it, and I've been loving it (twice in the last week, in fact).

Blake Makes is a very cool food blog with stories, recipes and photos, AND it gives away samples of new food products to those that sign up as "sooper heros" and win the comment lottery. I'm totally psyched because I'm expecting my first samples of a product called YouBar soon -- a customizable, fresh, handmade nutrition bar! Stay tuned; I'll write all about how they are when I get 'em.

Delicious, gorgeous summer pasta

OneSpicyMama offers up a terribly unique recipe for Purple Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Cardamom Brown Butter on her blog A Beautiful Mosaic.

So pretty. If it weren't about a hundred degrees here in Seattle (finally, summer has arrived!) I might even consider cooking it. Instead I'm sitting in front of a fan with M, eating peach sorbet. Mmmmm. Happy Sunday.

Cheese accessories

I love cheese. IMHO, its the perfect food. Give me a crusty loaf of bread, some aged cheese, perhaps some Salumi prosciutto and a glass of red wine and I am one happy girl. Happy happy. This cheese knife looks like it might be just the thing to add to my little party.

Zayda Buddy's: Ballard offering from an arm of Top Pot

Back when I was well and didn't have a persistent, constant sore throat (long, long ago it seems) M & I visited Zayda Buddy's in Ballard. We love kitsch, and then once we heard that this mid-west styled place was opened by one of the Top Pot investors (owners of our favorite lounge in the city, Sun Liquor) -- we had to pay a visit).

This place is really all about the ambiance, the irony, the kitsch & the vibe. The food is fine and will clog your arteries nicely; the real reason to go is the atmosphere and the drinks. Pull up a table, let down your hairs, order some tots and a beer or a cocktail. Now RELAX. Ahhhh. Good relaxing. Invite your pals and have a light-on-the-wallet evening.

We've been there twice now, and I distinctly remember M saying, after his first meal of tots and dog with Sloppy Joe mix & paying a very small check: "I think I love this place."

So there you have it.

The antithesis of classy, but sometimes that's what we're after, and classic can be a good thing now and then. Fun place for city slickers to go slummin'.

Scoop: While we were there, oddly, we ran into one of our favorite bartender's from the aforementioned Sun Liquor -- evidently something Sun Liquor-like is being thought about for Ballard. Joy!

New locally focused foodie magazine

Interesting new mag EdibleSeattle coming soon. It's a quarterly pub that "celebrates the diverse foods and delicious cultures of the Puget Sound region." Sounds good to me.

As does this:

"In our pages, you'll meet local farmers, foragers, vintners and fishing boat captains, examine the kitchens of favorite regional chefs, find updates on food-related policies and discover new recipes for each season's freshest ingredients."          

Bring it on. First issue in April. I plan to subscribe.

Pink Plaid for Breast Cancer

You can now buy a limited edition of the "red plaid" Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book classic in pink, as a benefit for breast cancer awareness. If you don't already own this definitive American cookbook, this might be the perfect time to order yourself a copy.

Walla Walla Wine Country

M and I attended a wonderful family wedding last month in John Day, Oregon -- a tiny town that's really beautiful. They have some incredible landscapes, and the most amazing fossil beds. I can't say much about the hotel situation, though...except that they could use another.

We took a side trip to Walla Walla wine country on the way back to Seattle; we're trying to learn more about wine (beyond that we like it) and it seemed like a great opportunity.

We stayed at the most amazing place called The Abeja Inn. Just stunning, if not exactly cheap. But I figured that was our summer vacation so thus it's okay. If you're ever looking for a really special place to relax and unwind and just breathe in the fresh air, this place is perfect. They have a wonderful grand entrance that seems to just magically transport you to a more relaxed, happy place. I've always loved tree-lined pathways -- I think I first fell in love with them while watching The Sound of Music as a little girl. When you approach the winery and Inn, you enter through a wrought iron gate that one has to be "let in"...and as they open up you enter just such a movie-like tree-lined road:

So basically, I was happy and content upon entering. Just a few minutes after our arrival, we had a private tasting in their barrel room <heaven, we felt like rock stars>; our favorite was their 2004 Beekeepers Blend -- a red table wine.

Lucky timing meant that we caught a Kim Rickett's book event that evening at L'Ecole No 41, to celebrate the publication of Washington: The State of Wine. The wine photographer/author of the book Sara Matthews was there, along with five of the featured wineries in her book. She spoke to the small group of about 30 people about her experiences putting it together; M and I got a kick out of the fact that she mentioned how she's "just a girl from New York"...yet this was said with a rather distinct (though charming) southern accent. We guessed that what she meant to say was that she now lives in New York...anyway, I digress...

One of our favorite wines there was a Cayuse Vineyards bottle that actually isn't sold to the public -- it's just for "special" friends. Well, let me tell you -- we felt pretty special quaffing this stuff. Especially after Christophe Baron, the vigneron (I learned this term from the book), told us to try it with the pate appetizer...it's amazing how the pairing of particular foods can bring out different flavors in a wine. It was soooo delicious, but unfortunately, not available! In fact, none of their wines were available for purchase directly -- they have a waiting list. We got on it.

Leonetti Cellars was also there, which we learned was one of the first wineries in the area. They too had a waiting list for purchasing wines, so at this point we were realizing how supremely lucky we were to have wandered into town and learned about this event -- we got to taste some great wines that one can't get their hands on very easily.

One of our other favorites at this tasting was Woodward Canyon. I frankly can't remember what we tasted there; they let us know that they had many more selections at their winery, and so we decided to stop there the following day and do a tasting on site. We left with a couple of bottle's of my new favorite pinot noir -- their 2000. It's really good; I like it better than any of the Oregon Pinot's that are such the rage right now (some are great; this one just suits my taste buds better than any I've tried). It's just more...I don't know, complex, maybe? I urge you to order some if you are a fan of Pinot.

Here are a couple more pictures of our trip.

This is the barrel room at Abeja, where we did our private tasting.

Here's a pic of the L'Ecole No 41 tasting room, which is in an old converted schoolhouse and is a great old building -- lots of character!

Maple Leaf Wine Cellar

A friend recently purchased a stake in what I've heard is a fabulous spot named the Maple Leaf Wine Cellar -- I soooo need to make it to a tasting night pronto!

They just got written up in NW Source. Check it out. Hooray! ...and for those more fond of beer than wine, he's going to start a specialty area for it too, and since he's a whiz on the stuff I know he'll offer all kinds of wonderful brews I would never otherwise discover.

What with my little nephew coming any day (actually, right now we're down to any hour) and being consumed in catching up on my years of sleepless nights...well, I haven't been making it out much lately...unless it's to play with fabrics on my new sewing machine or to bury myself in writing/research. =*)

Homemade Ginger Ale

A professor of chemistry supplies a recipe for a homemade ginger ale -- it sounds relatively simple and man alive do I love a good glass of this stuff. Yum!

He's also got cheese making recipes which could prove useful...

Ben & Jerry's Snack Cups

Oh my...came across a pretty funny blog site called The Zero Boss which had a great entry on what sounds to me like a wonderful little treat -- snack size B&J's. Delic. A marketing person after my own heart (and waistline). Evidently these can be found at some Seattle-area Safeway's. What's interesting is that single-serve portions were introduced in Japan in 1998...figures, huh? (no pun intended)...regardless, I shall be seeking some out soon.

Fall Cooks & Books

Kim Rickets pulls together some amazing events in the Seattle area if you're into cooking and cookbooks (I have a small library of cookbooks and love 'em...I read them like novels...kind of weird I know). You get to meet the authors in an intimate setting, hear them speak, talk to them personally and partake of some of their specialities in a fantastic local restaurant whose chef pays homage to the visitor. Very, very cool to a food geek like me.

Here's the latest (note that you can sign up to get emails of the events):

Barbara Fairchild

THE BON APPÉTIT COOKBOOK
October 4, 2006
6pm
$35/person (books will be available for purchase and signing)

Come enjoy a “Culinary Conversation” at CAFÉ CAMPAGNE with hors d’oeuvres prepared by chef Daisley Gordon and wine selections by Sommelier Jake Kosseff.For special event reservations call (206) 448-7740.

An intimate four-course dinner with Barbara Fairchild will be held upstairs at CAMPAGNE immediately following the “Culinary Conversation” for$150/person (includes the “Culinary Conversation”, dinner prepared by chef Daisley Gordon, wine selections by Sommelier Jake Kosseff, and in this case, tax and gratuity).

Danny Meyer

SETTING THE TABLE: THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF HOSPITALITY IN BUSINESS
October 18, 2006
6:30pm
$150/person

CANLISwith dinner prepared by chef Aaron Wright and wine selections by Sommelier Shayn Bjornholm

DANNY MEYER
If there is a secret to surviving in the restaurant industry, New York restaurant guru Danny Meyer must know it. His restaurants, Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern, Tabla, Blue Smoke, Shake Shack, and Eleven Madison Park continue to appear at the top of the New York City Zagat Survey’s most popular list. He runs a restaurant and 2 cafes in the Museum of Modern Art and owns a jazz club. Danny’s restaurants and chefs have won an unprecedented 16 James Beard Awards and Danny was honored with the first ever Outstanding Restaurateur award.  WOW! Can his enlightened and non-traditional business style help your business? Is being hospitable important in places other than the restaurant industry?  Find out in Danny’s new book SETTING THE TABLE and join us for a night of shared wisdom and a delicious dinner at Seattle’s own standard of hospitality, Canlis.

Michel Richard

HAPPY IN THE KITCHEN
October 30, 2006
Reservations begin at 5pm
$175/person

UNION with dinner prepared by chef Ethan Stowell and wine selections
by Jerry Tide

MICHEL RICHARD
If anyone is happy in the kitchen, it’s celebrated “chef’s chef”, Michel Richard of Citronelle in Washington, DC. This four-time nominated James Beard Foundation “Chef of the Year” is the master of innovation and in his new cookbook, HAPPY IN THE KITCHEN, he shares his recipes, techniques and secrets with us. Come meet this inspirational chef and relish in the food created by chef Ethan Stowell – who also is pretty darn happy in the kitchen!

Andrew Dornenburg & Karen Page

WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO PAIRING FOOD WITH WINE, BEER, SPIRITS, COFFEE, TEA – EVEN WATER – BASED ON EXPERT ADVICE FROM AMERICA’S BEST SOMMELIERS
November 6, 2006
6:30pm
$95/person

DAHLIA LOUNGEwith dinner prepared by chef Mark Fuller

>ANDREW DORNENBURG & KAREN PAGE
National Public Radio called them “the brightest young author team on the culinary scene today”, every chef and aspiring foodie owns a tattered copy of CULINARY ARTISTRY and their latest book, WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT is bound to change the way we eat and drink. This book takes pairing to a whole new level covering 1,500 categories, including 17 cuisines and 100 cheeses.  Who knew that banana pancakes yearned to be paired with blueberry tea! This book is sure to become a definitive reference book in every home – join us for a fun filled night of pairing wisdom and perfect pairings created by chef Mark Fuller of Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Lounge.

Leslie Sbrocco

THE SIMPLE & SAVVY WINE GUIDE
November 13, 2006
6pm $95/person

VEILwith dinner prepared by chef Shannon Galusha

LESLIE SBROCCO
Leslie Sbrocco knows wine.  She also knows that many of us are befuddled by the prospect of pairing wines, and bewildered by what wine will set the perfect mood or make a special occasion sparkle.  Not to worry - Leslie is an award-winning author, writer, wine consultant, and television host and her latest book, THE SIMPLE & SAVVY WINE GUIDE, is user friendly and includes shopping guides, top-10 lists, best buys, and plenty of insider tips. Leslie has also included her popular Wine Makeovers, where she takes an expensive bottle of wine and recommends a similar tasting, more affordable bottle – Friends will admire your sophisticated palate and as a bonus, you won’t go broke! Join us at Veil, Seattle’s own savvy and simply fabulous restaurant, as chef Shannon Galusha creates his inventive and delicious small plates for us to enjoy with wines that Leslie will pair from Veil’s extensive wine list.  Leslie’s entertaining approach to wine, food and life insure that this will be a fun evening not to be missed.

Dorie Greenspan

BAKING: FROM MY HOME TO YOURS
November 15, 2006 (2 chances to meet Dorie Greenspan)
4-6pm Afternoon Dessert Salon with desserts by Leslie Mackie
$50/person
6:30pm COOKS AND BOOKS Dinner with a savory supper and desserts by Leslie Mackie
$75/person >MACRINA BAKERY & CAFE

When it comes to baking, Dorie Greenspan is queen. For over three decades she has written countless recipes, co-authored and authored numerous award-winning cookbooks, including BAKING WITH JULIA, DESSERTS BY PIERRE HERMÉ, and CHOCOLATE DESSERTS BY PIERRE HERMÉ and of course, baked.  In celebration of her latest book, and the one dearest to her heart, BAKING: FROM MY HOME TO YOURS, we asked pastry maven Leslie Mackie of Macrina Bakery to strut her stuff and create two delicious events and chances to meet Dorie.  It doesn’t matter if you prefer a bowl and a whisk or a Kitchen Aid – this book is full of great recipes, insightful knowledge, and lots of love.  Not sure what that strange looking gadget is in your cooking drawer? – Dorie can help, when she isn’t busy perfecting recipes, she writes the “Tools of the Trade” column for Bon Appétit.

COOKS AND BOOKSgift certificates are available by calling the Kim Ricketts/Book Events’ office: (206) 632-2419.  These can be used towards any of the dinners, and are a perfect gift for anyone who loves good food, wine and books.

Information on our December COOKS AND BOOKS events coming soon!

To join the Cooks & Books mailing list e-mail Kim at: info@kimricketts.com

Coffee Gelatin With Coconut Sauce

Intrigued by a recipe from Delicious Days for espresso jello with a coconut cream sauce.

Fu Man Dumplings

Watch Chinese ladies rolling out the dough for their delectable dumplings or divine chow mein and salivate...M swears this stuff contains happy drugs because we were both stuck with perma-grin for hours after eating. Fu Man rocks, even if the location is a bit strip-mall-suburban-random.

Fish Heads

Just had to share this unappetizing little photo from Gastronomica. Maybe I should post it to my refrigerator door in the hopes it will dissuade me from entering...

Seattle Happy Hour Guide

The attached Excel spreadsheet details various restaurants and bars around the city and provides some details. I haven't gone through it to make sure its all accurate data, but I still thought it might be useful for some so am sharing it anyway. If you've got additions or corrections, please let me know! Download happy_hour_guide.xls

Beer & Cheese Pairing

Discovered a great beer and cheese combination somewhat accidentally this weekend. Bought some English Cheddar with carmelized onions from Trader Joe's, which M and I were enjoying with some bread and wine. Well, the wine was just so-so, and it just didn't marry well to the flavors. As I had also purchased some German Spaten Optimator beer, a dark, toasty drink of yum -- I stole the still full wine glasses and swapped 'em. Turned out to be a great complement to the cheese.

I am intrigued by the idea of beer/cheese pairings and am looking forward to some more experimentation. I've always thought wine and cheese...but I can imagine some sharp cheddars working well with other dark beers; perhaps an Irish white cheddar with some Guinness. Hmmm...Mmmmm...must go shopping!

Wine Stain Wonders

I am a rather infamous klutz, and as part of that affliction I manage to spill. A lot. On occasion, that means wine. I have recently found THE solution -- an easy mixture made from standard household ingredients. And it really works! It even removes dried wine stains without leaving a trace. I am tempted to bottle it and buy a slot of infomercials...

But I digress. Here's the "magic" formula: Mix hydrogen peroxide (yep, the stuff in the brown bottle that you normally use to clean wounds with) with dishwashing liquid. Take the 50/50 solution, rub it into the stains with a damp cloth and let it dry. Voila! Stains gone. I've even used it on silk with perfect results.

Cooks, Books, Food & Wine

This relatively new dinner series in Seattle and Portland combines everything I love into one night...when I go with friends and family...well, I could die a happy death by the end of the evening.

Kim Ricketts hosts events with cookbook authors at local hot restaurants, where the local chef pays homage to the visitor via food and wine pairings, and you (as the guest) get to meet the author, eat and drink with them, and get a copy of their book to boot. Rather heavenly if you ask me. I first heard about this from a Pacific Magazine article last year, and have since attended two fantastic events.

Upcoming Seattle dinners:

May 9th: Jane and Michael Stern at the Palace Ballroom, with Tom Douglas creating a dinner from their new memoir, TWO FOR THE ROAD: OUR LOVE AFFAIR WITH AMERICAN FOOD: 6:30 pm/$100.00 per person/call the Kim Ricketts Book Events office for reservations: 206-632-2419  *Check out their Roadfood site -- it contains searchable reviews of roadfood restaurants by state. You can even submit your own reviews...

June 5th: Joyce Goldstein at Lark, with Johnathan Sundstrom creating a dinner out of Joyce's new book, ANTIPASTI: FABULOUS APPETIZERS AND SMALL PLATES: 6:30 pm/110.00 per person/call Lark directly for reservations: 206-323-5275  *She shares some of her favorite spring recipes in a Food & Wine article. You could have a family affair by eating with Joyce on the 5th and then drinking with her famous sommelier son July 18th at Canlis.

June 13th: Anthony Bourdain at Union, with Ethan Stowell creating a dinner from Tony's cookbooks and new collection of essays: THE NASTY BITS/6:30 pm/150.00 per person/call Union directly for reservations: 206-838-8000  *At Anthony's site you can watch a video of him eating the still-beating heart of a cobra (no joke).

July 18th: Evan Goldstein at Canlis, for a wine and food pairing evening with Master Sommelier Shayn Bjornholm, in celebration of Evan's new book, PERFECT PAIRINGS/6:30 pm/125.00 per person/call Canlis directly for reservations: 206-283-3313  *The Court of Master Sommelier's has a nice bio.