seattle summer

My mind can hardly process the fact that it's August already. With all the weddings and vacations and general busy-ness of the past few months, June and July seem to have slipped through my fingers.  Not that Seattle was giving us much of a summer before August began...60 degrees and cloudy, anyone?

But it looks like we're finally getting the much vaunted Seattle summer weather - the sunny, clear days, long summer nights, and not a speck of humidity. I may be an east coast girl, but I certainly don't miss the muggy days and sweltering summer nights of my childhood. I've gotten so spoiled that I found myself complaining about the heat when it was 80 degrees outside...how times have changed!

My recent dog-sitting adventure gave me a good excuse to spend some time outdoors. I tried to tire Rex out with some nice long walks, but he apparently has endless stores of energy...and an insatiable appetite, as evidenced by the all the food he managed to scarf down while we were out of the house. Luckily for him, he's too cute to stay mad at for long.

Crossing my fingers that this weather will hold up for another month!

the pantry

After a long hiatus, I finally mustered up enough motivation to do a proper post. While I have been busy with various travels, I have to admit that the main reason I've neglected this space for so long is just sheer laziness :) But the fantastic cooking class I attended at The Pantry last week deserved a real post...so hello, I'm back!

I've been a big fan of the Orangette blog for years, so when I heard that her restaurant Delancey was opening up a space for cooking classes and community dinners, I pounced on the opportunity and signed up for their first cooking class, Back to the Basics.

The whole experience was great - a beautiful space, great teachers, and of course, amazing food. I have 2 words for you: homemade butter. I had something of a butter epiphany when I tasted it, like all the other butter I have tasted in my life was just a semblance of the real thing. Dramatic? Yes. But it was really that good. Who knew it's as simple as putting some good quality cream into a mixer?

The menu was focused on simple but tasty basics, like roasted chicken, roasted spring vegetables (with more of that amazing homemade butter), a salad with mustard vinaigrette, and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce to finish. It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday evening - I'd love to try one of their family style dinners next time.

bliss

A sunny weekend always does wonders for my outlook on life, so you can imagine the effect of a wine-filled Saturday in Napa. Add in the fact that there was a private limo and I got to see my former NYC and college roommate, and it was pretty much a perfect vacation.

I tried to take more pictures of people this time, since pictures of wine glasses are only interesting for so long. Cheers to the weekend! Although this one will be spent in rainy Seattle, not sunny San Francisco...

unexpected

Finally saw some sunshine today! Albeit, for just a few hours...I'll take what I can get though :) I took a quick sunset stroll through my usual photo-hunting grounds, the ol' reliable sculpture park, until the blustery winds chased me back indoors...

how does your garden grow?

I don't exactly know how the idea got into my mind. Perhaps it was spring fever getting to my brain. Perhaps it was all the recipes I've been trying lately that always seem to require minute amounts of expensive fresh herbs. But for whatever reason, I went out last weekend in search of plants to start a little kitchen garden. I had visions of basil, mint, thyme and rosemary growing in cute little pots on my windowsill and tomato and mozzarella salads garnished with basil leaves picked right from the plant. Alas, I discovered that basil is not only not in season yet (according to the plant nursery), it's also not really suited to growing indoors (according to my botanist mother). Luckily, rosemary and thyme were available and are now sitting on my windowsill, struggling to soak up the meager amount of sunlight my apartment gets.

I love having a bit of greenery in the apartment - every time I look over at my mini garden, it brings a smile to my face. Now, I just need a good recipe to test out my fresh herbs! 

spring...?

I'm at my wits' end with the weather in Seattle. We were blessed with one beautiful week of sunny skies - complete with the kind of fluffy clouds that you used to draw as a kid - before we got dumped on with never-ending mixture of rain, fog, mist, and seemingly permanent gloominess. Seattle, why must you tease us so?

Seattle is actually a very lovely place when the weather gods are smiling down on us.

And it makes me very happy to see the spring flowers making an appearance. Cherry blossoms have always been one of my favorite spring sights - there is something so perfect about their fluffy pink blooms.

But in the meantime, the weather is making me very grumpy. What's the use of warm weather if it's too wet to properly enjoy it?

waiting for spring

Sigh, I have neglected the blog terribly over the last couple of months. My excuse? I haven't taken many photos lately, haven't developed my roll of B&W film that I shot on my manual SLR, and have been busy with birthday festivities and the like.

It's also been quite dreary in Seattle as of late. Daylights savings has made me tremendously happy though - driving home at 7 the other day while it was still light outside was a euphoric experience.

Given the lack of original content to post about, I'll leave you with an assortment of links:

-The events in Japan are saddening and sobering. Please consider donating to Doctors Without Borders or another one of the charitable organizations that is helping out with the situation.

-I made this delicious chard & onion panade the other day and it was the perfect comfort food. Bread, greens, cheese & broth magically combine to form a rich and flavorful dish. I substituted kale for the chard without any detriment.

-My roommate recently received Melissa Clark's amazing cookbook as a birthday present and I promptly fell in love with it. Reading through the table of contents was enough to make me drool, and all the recipes I have tried so far have been great (blood orange olive oil cake anyone?). I also conveniently just came into possession of an oven-proof All-Clad skillet, courtesy of my brother, which I intend to use once I find a recipe worthy of it! I have visions of roasted chicken and braised greens...

-I just finished reading Rocket Boys, which I picked up secondhand. A funny & inspirational memoir if you're looking for a good read.

I hope to have more to post in the next few weeks - have a good weekend!    

whirlwind days

Oh my goodness, it's March already? Where did February go? This past month has passed by in such a whirlwind that I'm still catching my breath. 

In all the hubbub and hoopla of February (birthdays, weekend trips, and visitors, oh my!), I haven't been able to do much Seattle exploration lately. I actually found myself missing my weekend coffee jaunts and photo walks...they provide much needed time for me to recharge and quiet my mind.  Can you tell that I'm an introvert? :P

Nevertheless, having a visitor in town was a good excuse to stroll around in Ballard last weekend. Ballard is full of little restaurants and boutiques and cute children, probably comparable to Park Slope in Brooklyn, but less self-consciously cool - it is Seattle, after all. We had a wonderfully quiet and delicious brunch at Volterra, where I refueled for the rest of my busy weekend with a big cup of coffee and some comforting brunch food. 

I've been shooting some old film rolls leftover from a college photo class, so I'm hoping to develop some of those soon - I kind of miss the anticipation of waiting to see how a roll of film turns out! Shooting digital has really spoiled me, but there is still a certain satisfaction in getting a good shot on an old-fashioned SLR. In the meantime, happy beginning of March!  

san francisco eats

In planning our 3 day vacation in San Francisco, we were forced to make a lot of hard choices to whittle down our list of food recommendations into a mere 5-ish meals. So many places to try, so little time! Utilizing the collaborative power of Google docs, we managed to narrow it down to a handful of places that had been recommended by various helpful friends. I'm happy to report that they did not lead us astray. And luckily we spent most of our daylight hours walking so we had ample appetite for everything :)

It would take far too long to do an exhaustive overview of the delicious meals we ate, so I'll keep it brief and let the pictures do most of the talking.

1. The Cheese Board: Described as a "must-eat" in Berkeley, this worker-owned collective makes only one type of pizza a day. The whole experience of eating delicious pizza in the sun while surrounded by a cast of quirky Berkeley types was enough to make me want to move to California ASAP.

2. Zuni Cafe: I had read many enthusiastic reviews of their roast chicken, so this was one of my own top choices. The roast chicken lived up to expectations, as did the overall experience. A great showcase of fresh ingredients.

3. Foreign Cinema: Well-known as a brunch spot, this place scored high on all marks: great ambiance, wonderful interior, friendly service, and last but not least, amazing and creative food. We sat at the bar, which I would argue was even better than getting a table, since we got to see the bartender at work close-up.

4. The House: A friend recommended this place to me, describing it as great "Asian fusion" that wouldn't break the bank. While this description is certainly true, it did not prepare me at all for the level of food that we received. I generally don't get too excited about Asian food, but I must say, every dish blew us away with the taste and presentation. I will be coming back here for sure.

Overall, this was one, dining-wise, one of the best vacations I have had.  If I didn't leave my heart in San Francisco, I certainly left my stomach...

san francisco scenes

These past few weekends have been quite busy with various travel plans. I felt like I had just recovered from my weekend to New York when it was time to fly off to San Francisco for another weekend mini-vacation (a double date one this time, with one of my favorite couples!). And I just came back from a weekend in Whistler last night. I know, my life is hard...

The weather cooperated beautifully - with clear skies and highs in the 70's, we were able to cover a decent portion of the city in just a couple days. I've been to SF a number of times now, but on this trip, I saw it with a slightly different perspective. Having lived in two other major US cities now (NYC and Seattle), I felt like I appreciated SF's unique urban atmosphere much more. It has the public transportation and pedestrian-friendly feel of NYC, in addition to the relaxed vibe and beautiful scenery that I've come to love about Seattle. It also has a few more crazies than any city I've ever lived in, but I guess that's part of the package.

One of the highlights of the trip was definitely the bike ride to Sausalito. I had to restrain myself from stopping and taking pictures every few minutes, as we passed one picturesque scene after another. Someone needs to invent a head-mounted camera with a remote shutter click or something. And the sunset ferry back was a photographer's dream. After a hundred shots or so though, I decided to just pause and enjoy the view, which I sometimes forget to do when I'm stuck behind my camera all the time.

We also lucked out in our food choices, but I will save those pictures for another post. More to come on pizza, roast chicken, dim sum, and other deliciousness.

new york, i still love you (part iii)

Part of the magic of living in New York is really found in the small things. My last day there, I woke up at an ungodly (for Sunday) early hour to meet a friend for coffee; as I walked through the streets, the low winter sun cast slanted shadows on the buildings, throwing everything into stark relief. There was a quiet stillness in the air, the sound of a city that hadn't quite woken up yet. The smell of something warm and fried wafted from the direction of the corner deli. At that moment, I felt like I was right in rhythm with the city, like everything just fit in place.

New York has a curious way of embracing you while holding you at arm's length. You can never really know the city, even though you feel perfectly at home. You can know every single street, yet you walk among millions of strangers. I think I hold New York close to my heart because I feel like I "grew up" there, as I built the semblance of an adult life during those first years out of college.  I'm not so sure I could go back for good (I've gotten soft out here in Seattle), but I think a small piece of me will always be there, waiting for me to come back and visit.

new york, i still love you (part ii)

Sunday brunch is one of my favorite meals to eat out. It's early enough in the day that the Monday dread hasn't quite set in yet, and it's a great excuse to indulge in pancakes, bacon, and maybe even a cocktail or two (hey, it's ok to drink after noon, right?). I also love it because I've always used brunch as a catch-up time with friends. This weekend in New York, I was lucky enough to spend my Sunday brunch with a few of my favorite girls. Alice has already done a beautiful job (as always) with her post, so I'll just say that Freemans was the New York brunch experience that you often dream of but rarely experience. Our waiter probably thought we were a bunch of country bumpkins because every time he came by we were oohing and ahhing over this or that, but he treated us well all the same :) It was a fitting ending to my brief weekend in the city and a bittersweet reminder of all the things I miss about it.

Freemans
191 Chrystie Street (at the end of Freeman Alley - careful, it's easy to miss!)
New York, NY

new york, i still love you (part i)

I made my long-awaited trip to New York this past weekend, and despite getting mellowed out by my time on the West Coast, I still found myself irresistibly drawn in by the energy and excitement of the city. Damn you, New York - you will always hold an allure I can't deny.

I tried to maximize my limited amount of time by checking off a few long-standing items on my "to visit" list. One of the places I had been eyeing since last year was Locanda Verde, Andrew Carmellini's much praised Italian venture in Tribeca.

It's a beautiful venue, if a little cramped. I felt like I was being squeezed in my corner of the booth (and I'm not a big person...), but the food was effortless and satisfying, and the highly anticipated sheep's milk ricotta lived up to expectations.

Despite the rustic decor, it was definitely a New York scene.  I could spot the finance guys with their well-heeled girlfriends, downing $13 cocktails with their brunch fare (gotta ease the pain of 90 hour weeks with alcohol, obviously). And one of my dining companions reported back on some unfolding bathroom drama, as she overheard one girl consoling another who was in tears, Gossip Girl style. But what's the fun of New York without a little drama?

Locanda Verde
377 Greenwich St.
New York, NY  

let's drink some more beer!

I have neglected the blog as of late, mostly because I haven't done anything really photo-worthy. Instead, I've been doing things like snowboarding (fun & painful) and paintballing (more painful than fun), which don't particularly lend themselves to artistry. I did, however, have a backlog of some shots I took a few weekends ago from my visit to Woodinville, a town a bit northeast of Seattle.

Looking for something different to do, we decided to go to Red Hook Brewery, a local beer company. We underestimated its popularity though, and finding ourselves with a few extra hours to kill until the next available tour, decided to visit the winery across the road, Chateau Ste. Michelle. It's a lovely little estate, with all the charming touches you would expect from a winery. Plus, I can never pass up a free tasting!

Any sophistication points we racked up for doing a winery tour were quickly eliminated at the brewery, where we proceeded to liquor ourselves up some more. The brewery tour delivers some serious value - for $1, you get pretty much unlimited samples of a variety of Red Hook beers, plus a hilarious tour guide who taught us not only about Red Hook's history, but useful life lessons about Jagermeister (be careful - one moment you're taking a shot, and then next thing you know you're waking up in a tree...).  And after every 10 minutes or so of commentary, we drank some more beer. Sweet deal.

In other news, I will be making a long-awaited trip to NYC this weekend! Hoping to see old friends, check out new restaurants, and get in some good photos. Can't wait! And please please please don't snow!

walkin' in the rain

I don't know how the weekends always slip away so quickly. One moment it's Friday, and the next it's Sunday? Sigh.

I tried to stretch out my Sunday afternoon by continuing my Seattle coffee tour at Herkimer Coffee in the Green Lake neighborhood. It was a pleasant enough place to spend an afternoon with book & coffee in hand, but I ended up enjoying my walk to and from the shop more than the shop itself. In typical Seattle fashion, it was snowing when I walked in but sunny and clear by the time I headed out. Go figure. The remnants of the snow/rain mixture, however, left raindrops hanging everywhere like tiny jewels.

Seeing golden clouds in the sky, I made up my mind to drive to nearby Green Lake Park to see if I could get in a good sunset view before heading home. Lucky for me, it was one of those golden and rosy hued sunsets that I love so much (yes, I am a sunset junkie). And as I was going through my photos, I couldn't help noticing that the pink on a Ford I saw parked on the street was almost exactly matched by the pink in the sunset.

If only it were warmer! My fingers were about to fall off by the time the sun had gone down. I've made a mental note to return in the summer - I can already picture myself picnicking by the lake and then diving in for a swim. Only...oh 5 more months til the summer. It's not too early to start counting down, is it?

    

getting back into the groove

It feels like an eternity since the holidays rolled around - I know I've had more than my share of days off in December! So there is something comforting about getting back into the daily rhythm of the workday, although it does leave less time for exploration. I haven't shot much lately - I didn't take a single picture while I was in Vegas, which I do regret a bit. The bright lights of the strip and the surrounding desert would have made for some good subject matter. So instead, here are a couple shots that I took while I was showing my family around Fremont. Seeing a bit of color really brightens up my day when it's so consistently dreary!

10 for 2010

2010 was a tumultuous year for me, with lots of lows and highs. If you had asked me in January 2010 where I would be in January 2011, I'm certain I wouldn't have guessed that I would be in Seattle. But here I am!

I found myself in many places in 2010 - NYC, San Francisco, LA, South Dakota, Italy, Las Vegas, Seattle - and going through my pictures, I was struck by all the beautiful moments that I've soaked in this year. In many ways, I've been very lucky in 2010, although I've learned some tough lessons as well. I'm hoping that in 2011, I will have the wisdom to learn from my past mistakes and the courage to keep trying new things.

Here are 10 favorites from 2010. Happy new year.

From left to right, by row:
1. Sunset at sculpture park, Seattle
2. Brooklyn Bridge, NY
3. Roman ruins, Rome, Italy
4. Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, NY
5. Venice Beach, LA
6. Bremerton lake house, Washington
7. Custer State Park, South Dakota
8. Waiting for sunrise on the Spanish Steps, Rome
9. Walking along the canal (Fremont, Seattle)
10. View from the Duomo, Florence, Italy