Seattle

Hi there!

A few weeks back I went out to Seattle to visit my good pal Nikki thanks to a frequent flyer ticket. The weekend was short but so fun to hang out with her, meet her pals and see some great scenery.

Here are some of my favorite photos from my trip!

#1 - Pike Place Market (with Nikki's beautiful flowers and a Beatles cover band)
#2 - Tulips outside of Seattle (it was a week early for the tulips but please note Nikki's mandatory cup of coffee)
#3 - Night time ventures in Seattle (and playing with very low light)
#4 - La Conner, Washington
#5 - Nikki's apartment and the Space Needle

Sabor

Ryan and I have found this great little Mexican place not too far from our house. We first went there about a month ago when I was feeling the combination of wanting to eat melted cheese (does that mood hit everybody or is it just me?) and wanting to venture out more in our neighborhood.

There's this stretch of street that has at least 25 Mexican restaurants on it...all of them looking unique in their own way...all of them small businesses. So it's hard to determine which one is THE ONE you're going to try. We decided to go for the one with the bright paint job and old diner counter.

The food was great...fresh...generous portions...creative yet traditional...everything I really wanted. So last night we went back for our second visit. This time they recognized us and treated us more like regulars. I realized then that the place is owned by two people in their early thirties (and to me that's young and wonderful). They're making the horchata from scratch. They're starting the beans from a soak. He's making up citrus marinates for the pork. It was then that I felt, "This is our place!"

I don't know if everybody is like that...I guess maybe they are, take the theme song from Cheers, for example. But I loooove finding that new special place where I not only love what they're selling but I want to support them in their success as well. I do it with my hair dresser, I do it with my Mexican food, I do it with my sushi & Thai. To me, there's nothing better than seeing my money going to support someone else's dream, their passion and their hard work.

Maybe I'll think about finally signing up for the fresh vegetable boxes from the local farmers with that same idea. Maybe that will make me fall in love with brussel sprouts the way I fell in love with Sabor Michoacan's horchata.

It's a Boy!

No silly, I'm not pregnant but my sister-in-law is! We just found out yesterday that she's having a boy! After three girls they are thrilled to be bringing home a boy to play with legos and Star Wars with Daddy. Of course, Daddy has trained the girls to like those things too!

Congratulations and HOOOOORRRRAAAYYY!!

Brown sugar

The rest of the light brown sugar mingling with the dark brown sugar...

This chocolate chip cookie recipe was insanely good. The cookies stayed chewy and the mix of chocolate was a stroke of genius on my part. (If I do say so myself)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 c unsifted flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c butter, softened
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 t vanilla
2 eggs
1 c Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
1 c Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375. Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color (about 4 minutes). Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated.

Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: nearly 4 dozen cookies

It occurred to me the other night that there are tips in baking cookies that I can impart to my dear readers. Here goes:

1) Cook one pan of cookies at a time for best even cooking. I know sometimes I've tried to jockey two pans in the oven but I'm constantly worried and it always seems one pan is overdone too quickly. If you can just take your time you're better off.

2) When you take the cookies from the oven, remove them quickly and place on wire baking racks. They'll cool down the quickest and have the best texture.

3) Use as many pans as possible. When I take one pan from the oven I can throw another pan in for baking. I then remove the cookies from the first pan, wipe the pan with a paper towel to remove crumbs and distribute any grease, then cool down the pan before loading it up with new drops of cookie dough. If you put the dough on a hot cookie sheet too soon, the butter will start melting from the dough and spread out along the pan, causing an ugly spreading thin cookie that will have super dark edges. Always try to get the pan to room temperature.