Finally, a major trophy! It has only been 24 years!!! The last major tournament victory for India was the 60-overs-a-side Prudential World Cup in 1983!
The cricket-crazed nation is pretty much beside itself with joy right now. Such a thrilling win too. A 5 run win over arch-rival Pakistan - couldn't ask for more than that!
Sweet!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Pic of the day
From the Virginia Inn restroom:
Yes, typo. But it got us thinking - how many words really exist that have a "eech" syllable other than "speech"? Not that many, but more than we realized: beech, breech, leech, screech ...? A lot less than the number of words with "each": beach, reach, teach, impeach, breach, bleach ... we could go on!
Now, all we need is some "speach" on that wall!
Yes, typo. But it got us thinking - how many words really exist that have a "eech" syllable other than "speech"? Not that many, but more than we realized: beech, breech, leech, screech ...? A lot less than the number of words with "each": beach, reach, teach, impeach, breach, bleach ... we could go on!
Now, all we need is some "speach" on that wall!
Cute lil Amelia!
I've been helping with babysitting this incredible cute puppy - Amelia is from a litter of 6 puppies that Stephanie and Shawn have been fostering for the last 12 weeks. And she's a doll. I'd forgotten how insanely cute and insanely (?) insane puppies can be!
This one does it all: chases her tail, rolls around on the ground, sleeps on her back, whines in excitement for just about anything and mesmerizes all with her cute puppy eyes. She has a fabulous temperament to boot - she's ok running around with big dogs and is completely taken with Vodka (who doesn't quite care for her yet!) It makes for serious entertainment when she climbs all over him and licks his face when perched atop his back! I'm still trying to get a picture of that :)
This one does it all: chases her tail, rolls around on the ground, sleeps on her back, whines in excitement for just about anything and mesmerizes all with her cute puppy eyes. She has a fabulous temperament to boot - she's ok running around with big dogs and is completely taken with Vodka (who doesn't quite care for her yet!) It makes for serious entertainment when she climbs all over him and licks his face when perched atop his back! I'm still trying to get a picture of that :)
!!!... India enters the semis!
Sweet. Two well-played matches in a row. That's always a good thing (and often a rarity!)
India won the toss and elected to bat on what seemed like a really green bowler's pitch. And to make it tougher, Yuvi was out for this match (tendonitis). We made a seemingly modest score of 153 for 6 with Rohit Sharma scoring the high of 50. But we totally ruled when South Africa came in to bat! RP Singh made a killing with 4 wickets and Sreesanth chipped in 2. Pretty sweet!
More here.
India won the toss and elected to bat on what seemed like a really green bowler's pitch. And to make it tougher, Yuvi was out for this match (tendonitis). We made a seemingly modest score of 153 for 6 with Rohit Sharma scoring the high of 50. But we totally ruled when South Africa came in to bat! RP Singh made a killing with 4 wickets and Sreesanth chipped in 2. Pretty sweet!
More here.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Woooo!!! Yuvraj goes ballistic!
Six sixes in an over! We haven't seen that in a while! Well, we haven't seen India play truly spirited cricket in a while (but I'll save that rant for another day)!
Yuvi rocked. And India won. Awesome.
Yuvi rocked. And India won. Awesome.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Behold a(nother) food blog!
I finally got tired of everybody giving me crap about how my blog is really just a food blog :)
So, now there is a real food blog. And this one is just going to talk about everything else ... hmm ... is there anything else to talk about? :)
So, now there is a real food blog. And this one is just going to talk about everything else ... hmm ... is there anything else to talk about? :)
21 Acres
Ok, back after a long long hiatus! The last several weeks have been crazy busy, but now everything that I might've wanted to write about is so yesterday! :)
But it is never too late to make a plug for 21 Acres - a center that promotes local, sustainable food. We went to a community dinner there a couple of weekends ago and it was simply fabulous. It was a perfect summer evening, and we even got to watch the hot air balloons take off over Woodinville.
Before dinner, we got a chance to walk around the farmlands and check out the model of the new buildings and the living roof. And, for the first time ever, we saw a hop plant - didn't smell hoppy at all.
The menu was really simple - a variety of salad greens (including some spicy arugula, yum!) tossed with a light vinaigrette, a slew of roasted vegetables, pizzas topped with veggies from the farm - they brought in a giant portable brick oven for firing these - *so* good!
And then, it got even better! Dessert was the biggest and juiciest blackberries and blueberries we've ever come across. Yum!
But it is never too late to make a plug for 21 Acres - a center that promotes local, sustainable food. We went to a community dinner there a couple of weekends ago and it was simply fabulous. It was a perfect summer evening, and we even got to watch the hot air balloons take off over Woodinville.
Before dinner, we got a chance to walk around the farmlands and check out the model of the new buildings and the living roof. And, for the first time ever, we saw a hop plant - didn't smell hoppy at all.
The menu was really simple - a variety of salad greens (including some spicy arugula, yum!) tossed with a light vinaigrette, a slew of roasted vegetables, pizzas topped with veggies from the farm - they brought in a giant portable brick oven for firing these - *so* good!
And then, it got even better! Dessert was the biggest and juiciest blackberries and blueberries we've ever come across. Yum!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Desi food cookout - Part Deux
Ok, time to finish up this post! :)
So, after finishing up the sides, I started on the chappathis. The dough had sat for over an hour and was soft and quite happy. Hmm ... no rolling pin! That's a challenge. Oh well! I just had to use my hands instead. Wait! A Voss bottle! Brilliant! That was fun - rolling balls of chappathi dough into rotis with the Voss bottle. I just cooked them dry on a pan, no oil or butter. Turned out perfectly soft and yummy!
Finally, the Peas Pulao that I got started before rolling out the chappathis:
2 cups basmati rice - soaked in water for about 5 minutes, drained and spread to dry in a plate or flat pan
1 stick cinnamon
3 bay leaves
1 piece of nutmeg
1 t garam masala
1 pinch turmeric
1.5 cups frozen peas
1 t sesame oil
2 t ginger-garlic paste
salt to taste
Heat oil in a saucepan (large enough to cook the rice) and add the ginger-garlic paste, cinnamon, bay leaves and nutmeg. Once they are browned, throw in the rice and saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add 3.5 - 4 cups of water along with the peas, garam masala and salt and simmer partially covered till the rice is cooked. Garnish with a handful of chopped cilantro.
Dinner rocked! We opened a bottle of Prosecco to go with the desi food - it is often hard for us to find decent pairings given the spiciness of indian good, but this Prosecco totally complemented the flavors. Except now I've forgotten the label! Damn!
So, after finishing up the sides, I started on the chappathis. The dough had sat for over an hour and was soft and quite happy. Hmm ... no rolling pin! That's a challenge. Oh well! I just had to use my hands instead. Wait! A Voss bottle! Brilliant! That was fun - rolling balls of chappathi dough into rotis with the Voss bottle. I just cooked them dry on a pan, no oil or butter. Turned out perfectly soft and yummy!
Finally, the Peas Pulao that I got started before rolling out the chappathis:
2 cups basmati rice - soaked in water for about 5 minutes, drained and spread to dry in a plate or flat pan
1 stick cinnamon
3 bay leaves
1 piece of nutmeg
1 t garam masala
1 pinch turmeric
1.5 cups frozen peas
1 t sesame oil
2 t ginger-garlic paste
salt to taste
Heat oil in a saucepan (large enough to cook the rice) and add the ginger-garlic paste, cinnamon, bay leaves and nutmeg. Once they are browned, throw in the rice and saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add 3.5 - 4 cups of water along with the peas, garam masala and salt and simmer partially covered till the rice is cooked. Garnish with a handful of chopped cilantro.
Dinner rocked! We opened a bottle of Prosecco to go with the desi food - it is often hard for us to find decent pairings given the spiciness of indian good, but this Prosecco totally complemented the flavors. Except now I've forgotten the label! Damn!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Desi food cookout - Part I
Jo and Rich visited over the weekend - after we hit the baseball game in the afternoon, we moseyed over to Uwajimaya to get the makings for our mega desi meal :) That store is a lot of entertainment, we spent close to an hour strolling through the aisles, getting distracted by every fifth thing on the shelves - probably something we hadn't seen before! We finally marched out of there with 5 bulging bags of groceries - made heavier by the many mangoes and tender coconuts that I insisted on buying :)
So, the menu for the night:
Dum Aloo
Kadai Paneer
Peas Pulao
Cilantro chappathis
Papads from TJs (I forgot to get the masala papads I really wanted, so we had to make do!)
We discovered that Uwajimaya has a great spread of most things, but they are seriously lacking in cheeses. Maybe that is not surprising for an asian store, but we were banking on finding paneer there, so we had to hit Madison Market instead.
Chappathis: Dough
===============
I started off by kneading the dough - this is made from whole wheat flour. Traditional chappathis don't usually have any filling or seasoning, but we wanted something different. So, I threw in a bunch of minced cilantro along with some red chilli powder and salt. I usually add warm water when initially kneading the dough, and follow this up with some non-fat milk - this makes the dough really smooth and easy to roll out. After kneading, I covered the dough with a wet kitchen towel - letting the dough sit for a couple of hours usually results in much softer rotis.
The next thing to work on was the Dum Aloo. I chose to try a saalan-style masala for this instead of the more traditional poppy seed based flavors. This proved to be a good idea, I definitely want to use this base with more vegetables:
Dum Aloo
========
15-18 small potatoes (we carefully picked small ones that we didn't have to chop up)
20-25 pine nuts - soaked in 1/2 cup of warm water for about 10 minutes
2 T sesame seeds
1 black cardamom pod
3 t coriander seeds
2 t cumin seeds
2 cloves
1" cinnamon
1 small piece of nutmeg
6 cloves garlic
2" ginger
1 T olive oil
1 large red onion - minced
3-4 green cardamon pods
1/2 t turmeric powder
1 t cayenne pepper
2 - 2.5 cups buttermilk
The most important thing here is soaking the potatoes. It is pretty amazing how much of a difference that makes! I pricked the potatoes all over with a fork and soaked them in a bowl of warm water with 1 t of salt for about an hour.
Next, I dry roasted the pine nuts, sesame, black cardamom, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg till the pine nuts turn slightly brown. Once cooled, I ground them up into a fine powder.
I proceeded to mince the garlic and ginger along with the onions to form a coarse paste - it seems like preserving some small pieces instead of grinding to a fine paste results in a much better texture (and better flavor absorption).
Once the potatoes were soaked, we wiped them clean and sauteed them in a broad pan with 1/2 T of olive oil. This worked perfectly since we used this amazing calphalon nonstick pan. Got to love good cookware! :)
We then took the potatoes out and added the remaining 1/2 T of oil to the pan. And then threw in the onion-ginger-garlic paste. Once the onions were browned (this took about 15 minutes), we added the ground masala and salt and stirred it till the powder seemed mixed in. Now we started adding the buttermilk - 2-3 T at a time. I remember reading someplace that this needs to be done slowly so that the buttermilk does not curdle. It actually worked out much easier than I expected. We ended up adding over 2.5 cups, and it lent the perfect consistency. We finally added the potatoes in, mixed the sauce and covered the pan. We cooked it on simmer for almost 30 minutes before it was done. And done beautifully! :)
Meantime, Jo was cutting the pepper and carrots - the most beautifully julienned vegetables I've ever used :) The Kadai Paneer is a pretty simple recipe that can be made in so many different ways: some recipes call for a dry dish with roasted vegetables and paneer dusted with dry masala while others use a tomato gravy. I went with a tomato-onion gravy since it seemed like a good idea to soak it up with the rotis.
Kadai Paneer
=============
1 onion
4 vine tomatoes
5 cloves garlic
3 thai green chillies
1 T garam masala (I had pre-made this, so it made things a lot quicker)
1 bell pepper - julienned
2 carrots - julienned
1 block of paneer (about 12 oz, I think) - chopped into long pieces
1/2 T olive oil
I tossed the onions, tomatoes, garlic and green chillies into a food processor and ground them to a coarse paste. Once the olive oil was heated (in a shallow pan), we threw in this paste and let it cook - this took a little longer than expected, almost 20 minutes. We then added the peppers and carrots and let them cook covered for another 7-8 minutes. In the meantime, ,we baked the paneer (greased with a little oil spray) for about 12 minutes at 350 F until the edges started browning. Finally, we added the garam masala and salt along with the paneer to the veggies and let them simmer for a few more minutes. Garnishing was chopped cilantro - I love that smell - when we toss freshly chopped cilantro into hot gravy! Yum!!
Phew! I'm tired of writing these recipes already! Think I'll post this and let the rest come in Part II :)
So, the menu for the night:
Dum Aloo
Kadai Paneer
Peas Pulao
Cilantro chappathis
Papads from TJs (I forgot to get the masala papads I really wanted, so we had to make do!)
We discovered that Uwajimaya has a great spread of most things, but they are seriously lacking in cheeses. Maybe that is not surprising for an asian store, but we were banking on finding paneer there, so we had to hit Madison Market instead.
Chappathis: Dough
===============
I started off by kneading the dough - this is made from whole wheat flour. Traditional chappathis don't usually have any filling or seasoning, but we wanted something different. So, I threw in a bunch of minced cilantro along with some red chilli powder and salt. I usually add warm water when initially kneading the dough, and follow this up with some non-fat milk - this makes the dough really smooth and easy to roll out. After kneading, I covered the dough with a wet kitchen towel - letting the dough sit for a couple of hours usually results in much softer rotis.
The next thing to work on was the Dum Aloo. I chose to try a saalan-style masala for this instead of the more traditional poppy seed based flavors. This proved to be a good idea, I definitely want to use this base with more vegetables:
Dum Aloo
========
15-18 small potatoes (we carefully picked small ones that we didn't have to chop up)
20-25 pine nuts - soaked in 1/2 cup of warm water for about 10 minutes
2 T sesame seeds
1 black cardamom pod
3 t coriander seeds
2 t cumin seeds
2 cloves
1" cinnamon
1 small piece of nutmeg
6 cloves garlic
2" ginger
1 T olive oil
1 large red onion - minced
3-4 green cardamon pods
1/2 t turmeric powder
1 t cayenne pepper
2 - 2.5 cups buttermilk
The most important thing here is soaking the potatoes. It is pretty amazing how much of a difference that makes! I pricked the potatoes all over with a fork and soaked them in a bowl of warm water with 1 t of salt for about an hour.
Next, I dry roasted the pine nuts, sesame, black cardamom, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg till the pine nuts turn slightly brown. Once cooled, I ground them up into a fine powder.
I proceeded to mince the garlic and ginger along with the onions to form a coarse paste - it seems like preserving some small pieces instead of grinding to a fine paste results in a much better texture (and better flavor absorption).
Once the potatoes were soaked, we wiped them clean and sauteed them in a broad pan with 1/2 T of olive oil. This worked perfectly since we used this amazing calphalon nonstick pan. Got to love good cookware! :)
We then took the potatoes out and added the remaining 1/2 T of oil to the pan. And then threw in the onion-ginger-garlic paste. Once the onions were browned (this took about 15 minutes), we added the ground masala and salt and stirred it till the powder seemed mixed in. Now we started adding the buttermilk - 2-3 T at a time. I remember reading someplace that this needs to be done slowly so that the buttermilk does not curdle. It actually worked out much easier than I expected. We ended up adding over 2.5 cups, and it lent the perfect consistency. We finally added the potatoes in, mixed the sauce and covered the pan. We cooked it on simmer for almost 30 minutes before it was done. And done beautifully! :)
Meantime, Jo was cutting the pepper and carrots - the most beautifully julienned vegetables I've ever used :) The Kadai Paneer is a pretty simple recipe that can be made in so many different ways: some recipes call for a dry dish with roasted vegetables and paneer dusted with dry masala while others use a tomato gravy. I went with a tomato-onion gravy since it seemed like a good idea to soak it up with the rotis.
Kadai Paneer
=============
1 onion
4 vine tomatoes
5 cloves garlic
3 thai green chillies
1 T garam masala (I had pre-made this, so it made things a lot quicker)
1 bell pepper - julienned
2 carrots - julienned
1 block of paneer (about 12 oz, I think) - chopped into long pieces
1/2 T olive oil
I tossed the onions, tomatoes, garlic and green chillies into a food processor and ground them to a coarse paste. Once the olive oil was heated (in a shallow pan), we threw in this paste and let it cook - this took a little longer than expected, almost 20 minutes. We then added the peppers and carrots and let them cook covered for another 7-8 minutes. In the meantime, ,we baked the paneer (greased with a little oil spray) for about 12 minutes at 350 F until the edges started browning. Finally, we added the garam masala and salt along with the paneer to the veggies and let them simmer for a few more minutes. Garnishing was chopped cilantro - I love that smell - when we toss freshly chopped cilantro into hot gravy! Yum!!
Phew! I'm tired of writing these recipes already! Think I'll post this and let the rest come in Part II :)
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Go Mariners!
Woo Hoo Hoo!!! Ok, this is a delayed post, so don't interpret this as a response to the Ms loss earlier this evening.
We went with Jo & Rich to the game on sunday - against the As. It was probably one of the best games we've been to in a long time (I know! I say that everytime I get to watch the Ms win :)) But this was seriously awesome! And it was 70s night! I finally got to connect a face with the name 'Erik Estrada'! Yay! (I still have no clue what CHiPs is all about! But I do know SeaLab!)
Great weather, fabulous seats - that's the great thing about being at Safeco - it is such a neat stadium that pretty much any section seems to have a good viewing experience. This is the second game where we've sat in the 300 section over first base and had a great view of the goings on.
Just as we thought the Ms were running away with the game (we did lead 7-1), the As fouight back and soon lead 10-7. What with Sexson and McLaren being thrown out, it seemed like the Ms were out of sync. But awesome Ichiro and Broussard came to the rescue and we fought back. And we finally won 14-10.
Awesome. And we even had the 70s bad hair dancer to keep us entertained!
We went with Jo & Rich to the game on sunday - against the As. It was probably one of the best games we've been to in a long time (I know! I say that everytime I get to watch the Ms win :)) But this was seriously awesome! And it was 70s night! I finally got to connect a face with the name 'Erik Estrada'! Yay! (I still have no clue what CHiPs is all about! But I do know SeaLab!)
Great weather, fabulous seats - that's the great thing about being at Safeco - it is such a neat stadium that pretty much any section seems to have a good viewing experience. This is the second game where we've sat in the 300 section over first base and had a great view of the goings on.
Just as we thought the Ms were running away with the game (we did lead 7-1), the As fouight back and soon lead 10-7. What with Sexson and McLaren being thrown out, it seemed like the Ms were out of sync. But awesome Ichiro and Broussard came to the rescue and we fought back. And we finally won 14-10.
Awesome. And we even had the 70s bad hair dancer to keep us entertained!
Shasta rocked!
Yeesh! July has been a month of minimal posts! Between crazy work and travelling, it has been almost impossible to write about most things I seem to think about.
But the blog just cannot go on without mentioning Shasta. It was divine, except for when it started raining and we had to run downstairs and sleep inside instead of on the houseboat like we did for the first few nights. Speaking of sleeping on the top of the houseboat - the night sky was fabulous. Even more so since a clear night sky is so hard to come by in Seattle! And we constantly regretted not taking the field guide. So, instead of checking out new constellations, we stuck with the good old dippers and orion and sirius :)
The water level kept dropping as the week went by. Until it started raining!!
The water was warm, the tubing was so much of fun! Sucks that it took me three days to finally do it!
The stretch at the top of this hill was the only place where Shy and I were able to do our running in the morning!
We took this last picture the morning after it started raining.
But the blog just cannot go on without mentioning Shasta. It was divine, except for when it started raining and we had to run downstairs and sleep inside instead of on the houseboat like we did for the first few nights. Speaking of sleeping on the top of the houseboat - the night sky was fabulous. Even more so since a clear night sky is so hard to come by in Seattle! And we constantly regretted not taking the field guide. So, instead of checking out new constellations, we stuck with the good old dippers and orion and sirius :)
The water level kept dropping as the week went by. Until it started raining!!
The water was warm, the tubing was so much of fun! Sucks that it took me three days to finally do it!
The stretch at the top of this hill was the only place where Shy and I were able to do our running in the morning!
We took this last picture the morning after it started raining.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Woooo! I can see some beans!
My p-patch is happy, very happy! I see a couple of bell peppers already! Several beans are out, a handful of tomatoes are on their way, the endive is growing like crazy! As are the leeks and beets :)
My one lonely squash plant - it's doubled in size already since I took this picture (it has been 3 days!)
I still need to plant some peas, maybe more tomatoes and some of that spicy salad greens that I'm always eating off Autumn's deck garden! :)
My one lonely squash plant - it's doubled in size already since I took this picture (it has been 3 days!)
I still need to plant some peas, maybe more tomatoes and some of that spicy salad greens that I'm always eating off Autumn's deck garden! :)
Squash Blossom Quesadillas
The Redmond Farmers' Market had bags of squash blossoms for sale. The only time I ate these, they tasted awesome, couldn't wait to try a recipe with them. Besides, the gal at the market totally sold me on these, as well as some great-looking beet greens. Yum!
Most recipes seem to just lay out the blossoms with grated cheese and maybe some grilled onions. But I really wanted more veggies in there. So, this is what I went with:
Squash Blossom Quesadillas
=======================
5-6 tomato tortillas (PCC carried these for a few weeks *yummy*!)
1 onion - sliced long
1/2 green bell pepper - julienned
1/2 red bell pepper - julienned
1 carrot - grated (medium or large shreds)
1/2 can black beans - rinsed
kernels from 1 ear of steamed corn
15-20 squash blossoms
salt and Marie Sharp habanero-carrot sauce for seasoning
1/2 cup of grated pepperjack cheese
1/2 t of olive oil
Heat oil and saute the onions till they turn brown. Throw in the bell peppers and carrots and saute for about 6-7 minutes. Add the beans and corn and let it simmer for another 3-4 minutes. Turn off the stove and throw in the squash blossoms and seasonings.
Spoon out the veggie mix onto a tortilla and sprinkle with some grated cheese. Top with another tortilla, press it down. Cook both sides on a griddle till tortillas are crisp and the cheese is melted inside.
The flavors of the squash blossoms was awesome! The slightly sweet flavors seemed to blend quite well with a tangy pineapple salsa.
Yay!
Most recipes seem to just lay out the blossoms with grated cheese and maybe some grilled onions. But I really wanted more veggies in there. So, this is what I went with:
Squash Blossom Quesadillas
=======================
5-6 tomato tortillas (PCC carried these for a few weeks *yummy*!)
1 onion - sliced long
1/2 green bell pepper - julienned
1/2 red bell pepper - julienned
1 carrot - grated (medium or large shreds)
1/2 can black beans - rinsed
kernels from 1 ear of steamed corn
15-20 squash blossoms
salt and Marie Sharp habanero-carrot sauce for seasoning
1/2 cup of grated pepperjack cheese
1/2 t of olive oil
Heat oil and saute the onions till they turn brown. Throw in the bell peppers and carrots and saute for about 6-7 minutes. Add the beans and corn and let it simmer for another 3-4 minutes. Turn off the stove and throw in the squash blossoms and seasonings.
Spoon out the veggie mix onto a tortilla and sprinkle with some grated cheese. Top with another tortilla, press it down. Cook both sides on a griddle till tortillas are crisp and the cheese is melted inside.
The flavors of the squash blossoms was awesome! The slightly sweet flavors seemed to blend quite well with a tangy pineapple salsa.
Yay!
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Fish does taste good!
We wanted to make something out of Jay Solomon's caribbean cookbook on the 4th, but we kind of took the reverse route - figured we'll pick the most interesting fish and then find a recipe to go with it :)
Madison Market had happy-looking ling cod - *yay*! Another first :) So, we frantically started browsing our book for an appropriate recipe. And we found one that we could work with - it was hot enough to want something light, maybe lemony, so this is what we worked with:
Ling Cod in Cilantro & Lime Marinade
=============================
6 ling cod fillets - 4-5 oz each
Juice of 2 lemons
1 bunch cilantro
7-8 fresh garlic cloves
1 t paprika
1 T cayenne
1/2 t coriander powder
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cumin powder
kosher salt to taste
Grind up the cilantro and garlic and add the rest of the spices. Coat the fish with the marinade and refrigerate for about 1 hour. We could have grilled the fish or baked it - we chose to do a combination of baking and stove-top cooking instead. We first baked the fish covered in foil for about 5-7 minutes. Then, we took the fish out and cooked each piece in a pan for about 6-7 minutes, turning the pieces constantly. Guess the fish was pretty thick, it cooked a lot longer than we expected. But it turned out perfect. Yummy!
We had a couple of sides with the fish - one was roasted gold potatoes with garlic and walla walla onions. The other was this sunburst squash dish:
Sunburst squash curry
=================
8 sunburst squashes - diced
1 t mustard
1 t urad dal
1/2 t asafoetida
2 chopped red chillies
1 t sesame oil
2 T shredded coconut
salt to taste
Roast the mustard, dal, asafoetida and red chillies in the oil, throw the squash and coconut and saute till the squash is cooked. Add the salt and saute for about a minute more. Garnish with chopped cilantro. This turned out awesome! Sunburst squash tends to let out less water than zucchini or yellow squash and absorbs a lot more flavor - the red chillies+coconut perfectly complemented the slight sweetness of the squash.
Madison Market had happy-looking ling cod - *yay*! Another first :) So, we frantically started browsing our book for an appropriate recipe. And we found one that we could work with - it was hot enough to want something light, maybe lemony, so this is what we worked with:
Ling Cod in Cilantro & Lime Marinade
=============================
6 ling cod fillets - 4-5 oz each
Juice of 2 lemons
1 bunch cilantro
7-8 fresh garlic cloves
1 t paprika
1 T cayenne
1/2 t coriander powder
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cumin powder
kosher salt to taste
Grind up the cilantro and garlic and add the rest of the spices. Coat the fish with the marinade and refrigerate for about 1 hour. We could have grilled the fish or baked it - we chose to do a combination of baking and stove-top cooking instead. We first baked the fish covered in foil for about 5-7 minutes. Then, we took the fish out and cooked each piece in a pan for about 6-7 minutes, turning the pieces constantly. Guess the fish was pretty thick, it cooked a lot longer than we expected. But it turned out perfect. Yummy!
We had a couple of sides with the fish - one was roasted gold potatoes with garlic and walla walla onions. The other was this sunburst squash dish:
Sunburst squash curry
=================
8 sunburst squashes - diced
1 t mustard
1 t urad dal
1/2 t asafoetida
2 chopped red chillies
1 t sesame oil
2 T shredded coconut
salt to taste
Roast the mustard, dal, asafoetida and red chillies in the oil, throw the squash and coconut and saute till the squash is cooked. Add the salt and saute for about a minute more. Garnish with chopped cilantro. This turned out awesome! Sunburst squash tends to let out less water than zucchini or yellow squash and absorbs a lot more flavor - the red chillies+coconut perfectly complemented the slight sweetness of the squash.
Surprise! (07/08/07)
Time for another hike! This time, the foursome (Varun, Neha, Vodka and I) headed off to Surprise Creek off Highway 2. This is a pretty long hike to the lake (over 9 miles RT), there was no way I expected to finish it with kids in tow, but it sounded scenic enough to be gratifying even if we did just part of it.
Sunday turned out pretty cloudy and muggy. After a little searching, we found the unmarked service road (past mile marker 58) to the right of Hwy 2, about 10 miles past Skykomish. We drove over the railroad tracks and went on a bumpy road for about 1/4 mile to get to the trailhead. It was a lot more crowded than we expected, tons of overnight backpackers. In fact, V&N were the only kids on the trail! And no llamas on this trail :)
The trail initially starts out under the power lines, but soon veers away into the forest. It is pretty well maintained, lots of wooden steps along the way. The first creek crossing is really cool - a huge fallen tree across the water.
Obviously, the kids decided this was the coolest part of the hike - we crossed the bridge about 20 times as Vodka kept splashing around in the water below!! There are tons of waterfalls and wading pools along the first couple of miles. We probably went up another 3/4 miles - as the trail started switchbacking up the valley face. Neha was getting tired by then, so we stopped at the next flat area. The sun started coming out just then, it was beautiful to see the light on the waterfall below.
Time to head back, I ended up toting Neha on my back most of the way down - almost 40 lbs ==> good training for Rainier :)
Pretty neat writeup about the trail here.
Sunday turned out pretty cloudy and muggy. After a little searching, we found the unmarked service road (past mile marker 58) to the right of Hwy 2, about 10 miles past Skykomish. We drove over the railroad tracks and went on a bumpy road for about 1/4 mile to get to the trailhead. It was a lot more crowded than we expected, tons of overnight backpackers. In fact, V&N were the only kids on the trail! And no llamas on this trail :)
The trail initially starts out under the power lines, but soon veers away into the forest. It is pretty well maintained, lots of wooden steps along the way. The first creek crossing is really cool - a huge fallen tree across the water.
Obviously, the kids decided this was the coolest part of the hike - we crossed the bridge about 20 times as Vodka kept splashing around in the water below!! There are tons of waterfalls and wading pools along the first couple of miles. We probably went up another 3/4 miles - as the trail started switchbacking up the valley face. Neha was getting tired by then, so we stopped at the next flat area. The sun started coming out just then, it was beautiful to see the light on the waterfall below.
Time to head back, I ended up toting Neha on my back most of the way down - almost 40 lbs ==> good training for Rainier :)
Pretty neat writeup about the trail here.
First hike of the season - Melakwa Lake (07/01/07)
Finally, finally we started hiking this season! With all this damn running, it has been hard to find time for hiking! We were originally thinking of hitting Mt.Forgotten or Mt.Dickerman on sunday, but we got a somewhat late start (like always :) ), so we picked a closer hike - Melakwa Lake (Exit 47 off I-90).
After getting lost in the maze of the Denny Creek campground, we finally found our way out to the real trail. Wait! We're supposed to be hiking alongside llamas? Is that a good idea? And does this mean Vodka can't be on this trail?!
It was a beautiful day, there were several folks on the trail, but it definitely wasn't overcrowded. We saw tons of native plants along the way - trillium, polygonatum, dogwoods, columbines and more.
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The first waterfall was pretty crowded - guess a lot of the campers at Denny Creek were hanging out here - bummer we couldn't hang out here - I love hopping around on the bare rocks near the water.
We crossed the bridge and continued hiking up towards Keekwulee Falls (we even saw some skinny-dipping action from afar!) The trail got steeper and we soon hit the switchbacks across the boulder fields.
We finally crested at Hemlock Pass after trudging through a couple of slick snow patches. From here, it was about 1/2 mile down through mud and slush to Melakwa Lake. We then made our way along the western edge - across the steep snow face to this outcrcopping on the north-western edge of the lake. Sorry Autumn, we'll try to avoid such adventures next time :)
Time for lunch - amazing how food tastes *so* good after all that hiking! Scrambled egg sandwiches, grapes, cherries ... *yum*! Just as we finished eating, the sun disappeared behind the clouds and a cool wind started blowing - too bad, we were hoping to take a dip in the water! Instead, we plodded back through the snow to the south end of the lake and tried to take a few more pictures until the bugs chased us back down!
Phew! Even with all that scrambling across the snow, our kneecaps escaped the Duval Curse :)
After getting lost in the maze of the Denny Creek campground, we finally found our way out to the real trail. Wait! We're supposed to be hiking alongside llamas? Is that a good idea? And does this mean Vodka can't be on this trail?!
It was a beautiful day, there were several folks on the trail, but it definitely wasn't overcrowded. We saw tons of native plants along the way - trillium, polygonatum, dogwoods, columbines and more..
The first waterfall was pretty crowded - guess a lot of the campers at Denny Creek were hanging out here - bummer we couldn't hang out here - I love hopping around on the bare rocks near the water.
We crossed the bridge and continued hiking up towards Keekwulee Falls (we even saw some skinny-dipping action from afar!) The trail got steeper and we soon hit the switchbacks across the boulder fields.
We finally crested at Hemlock Pass after trudging through a couple of slick snow patches. From here, it was about 1/2 mile down through mud and slush to Melakwa Lake. We then made our way along the western edge - across the steep snow face to this outcrcopping on the north-western edge of the lake. Sorry Autumn, we'll try to avoid such adventures next time :)
Time for lunch - amazing how food tastes *so* good after all that hiking! Scrambled egg sandwiches, grapes, cherries ... *yum*! Just as we finished eating, the sun disappeared behind the clouds and a cool wind started blowing - too bad, we were hoping to take a dip in the water! Instead, we plodded back through the snow to the south end of the lake and tried to take a few more pictures until the bugs chased us back down!
Phew! Even with all that scrambling across the snow, our kneecaps escaped the Duval Curse :)
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Mountains to Sound Relay
Sunday came and we needed to head out relatively early to Sammamish Slough for the relay - the initial estimate was that Laurel would get done with her biking leg sometime between 11-11:30 and we'll have to start our paddling then. So, we hauled the kayak down there and set it near the water by 9:30, then wandered over to Victor's for coffee and breakfast (Seriously, racetime is one of those few instances when I have *zero* appetite, anything I try eating seems to taste like cardboard!). We hung out there for a good hour and stared out the window as it got increasingly windy and rainy as we waited for Han to call us about our paddling leg.
Well, it was past 11:30. And we heard the not-so-good news. Han fell off her mountain bike navigating a sharp turn and damaged the handlebars in the process, which in turn delayed Laurel. Hmm ... as we waited around (almost 12:30), we heard news about people getting lost on the bike trail. Finally, we hit the water a few minutes before 1 pm. By then, it was pretty overcast and it had been drizzling on and off. Guess we got our wish - we were among the last ones out and pretty much had the slough to ourselves! :)
Hmm ... a couple of miles in and we're both thinking "Maybe kayaking this route just 2 days ago wasn't such a fabulous idea!" Our arms were hurting some, but the bigger deal was that the route seemed a little ... well, boring?! Friday had been a much prettier day, we had seen a lot more birds then, sunday was kind of dreary, we had waited forever before starting and the birds seemed to have gone away. *bleh*!
So, after endless paddling, we finally got to Lake Wa - only to be caught in incredibly choppy water! We paddled around relentlessly, trying really hard to head to the shore at Log Boom Park, only to keep getting turned around by the waves. Quite freaky! Finally headed to shore, then a long ride to Redmond to get the car, another long ride to drop the kayak off. Yeeesh, *so* much of work! :)
Well, it was past 11:30. And we heard the not-so-good news. Han fell off her mountain bike navigating a sharp turn and damaged the handlebars in the process, which in turn delayed Laurel. Hmm ... as we waited around (almost 12:30), we heard news about people getting lost on the bike trail. Finally, we hit the water a few minutes before 1 pm. By then, it was pretty overcast and it had been drizzling on and off. Guess we got our wish - we were among the last ones out and pretty much had the slough to ourselves! :)
Hmm ... a couple of miles in and we're both thinking "Maybe kayaking this route just 2 days ago wasn't such a fabulous idea!" Our arms were hurting some, but the bigger deal was that the route seemed a little ... well, boring?! Friday had been a much prettier day, we had seen a lot more birds then, sunday was kind of dreary, we had waited forever before starting and the birds seemed to have gone away. *bleh*!
So, after endless paddling, we finally got to Lake Wa - only to be caught in incredibly choppy water! We paddled around relentlessly, trying really hard to head to the shore at Log Boom Park, only to keep getting turned around by the waves. Quite freaky! Finally headed to shore, then a long ride to Redmond to get the car, another long ride to drop the kayak off. Yeeesh, *so* much of work! :)
Go Ms!
Where the hell was my parking karma when I really needed it?!!
I was heading to watch the Ms game earlier this afternoon and made the big, big mistake of driving downtown. What was I thinking? That my reliable parking karma would hold me in good stead and land me a prime spot near Safeco? Well ... no! It failed me! Miserably! I drove around for over an hour trying to find a spot somewhere, anywhere! Finally, finally, after seemingly infinite stops at every light along the way, I was able to sneak into the Qwest parking lot and snag a spot on the roof level. *phew*
It was the perfect day for baseball - the sun was coming out, it was getting increasingly warmer, the Ms were playing the Sox, we're at Safeco (*such* a fabulous ballpark!) - good life (albeit parking woes!).
After a sluggish first half, it turned out to be a great game - right up to the nailbiting finish when Lopez doubled in the 11th to win the game! Ichi rocked with 3 hits (hope everybody remembered to cast his all-star vote!), Putz was spiffy. And I'll let USSMariner tell the rest of the story :)
All in all, very entertaining game. Good baseball, great weather, entertaining fans attempting lame waves! And we kept wondering why there are so many Boston fans at the Ms home game. Well, we don't have the answer. But we sure are not the only ones wondering!
I was heading to watch the Ms game earlier this afternoon and made the big, big mistake of driving downtown. What was I thinking? That my reliable parking karma would hold me in good stead and land me a prime spot near Safeco? Well ... no! It failed me! Miserably! I drove around for over an hour trying to find a spot somewhere, anywhere! Finally, finally, after seemingly infinite stops at every light along the way, I was able to sneak into the Qwest parking lot and snag a spot on the roof level. *phew*
It was the perfect day for baseball - the sun was coming out, it was getting increasingly warmer, the Ms were playing the Sox, we're at Safeco (*such* a fabulous ballpark!) - good life (albeit parking woes!).
After a sluggish first half, it turned out to be a great game - right up to the nailbiting finish when Lopez doubled in the 11th to win the game! Ichi rocked with 3 hits (hope everybody remembered to cast his all-star vote!), Putz was spiffy. And I'll let USSMariner tell the rest of the story :)
All in all, very entertaining game. Good baseball, great weather, entertaining fans attempting lame waves! And we kept wondering why there are so many Boston fans at the Ms home game. Well, we don't have the answer. But we sure are not the only ones wondering!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sushi, Miso, et al
Time to make sushi again! We're still struggling with rolling, but it seems to be getting marginally better.
I think it is time to take a class on this. PCC seems to have one, as does Uwajimaya, but I'm favoring the one at Culinary Communion - the wine class there was pretty fun, most of their classes are very hands-on and end up with everyone feasting on the giant spread that was just cooked up. Sounds delightful :)
I guess sushi-grade fish is pretty rare commodity in the grocery stores - the last time we wanted to make sushi, we got tuna from Whole Foods - it was amazing, but that was all they had! This time we wanted more variety, so we marched off to that asian food museum of sorts in SoDo. Uwajimaya has this wide spread of sushi-grade fish, so we ended up picking up tuna, salmon and yellow tail. As we started cutting up the fish for the rolls, we discovered that Whole Foods (more popularly known as Whole Paycheck) is pricey for a reason - quality. The tuna we had got there last time was a dream to cut up - like running a knife through butter. But this fish felt a lot denser, and the corners were somewhat leathery. Oh well! The rolls did turn out pretty tasty, but we might be scouting around some more for the perfect sushi-grade fish.
We figured a miso soup would go well with the sushi, we used a recipe out of this awesome Vegetarian Basics cookbook. I'll dig up the recipe and post it in a bit :)
I think it is time to take a class on this. PCC seems to have one, as does Uwajimaya, but I'm favoring the one at Culinary Communion - the wine class there was pretty fun, most of their classes are very hands-on and end up with everyone feasting on the giant spread that was just cooked up. Sounds delightful :)
I guess sushi-grade fish is pretty rare commodity in the grocery stores - the last time we wanted to make sushi, we got tuna from Whole Foods - it was amazing, but that was all they had! This time we wanted more variety, so we marched off to that asian food museum of sorts in SoDo. Uwajimaya has this wide spread of sushi-grade fish, so we ended up picking up tuna, salmon and yellow tail. As we started cutting up the fish for the rolls, we discovered that Whole Foods (more popularly known as Whole Paycheck) is pricey for a reason - quality. The tuna we had got there last time was a dream to cut up - like running a knife through butter. But this fish felt a lot denser, and the corners were somewhat leathery. Oh well! The rolls did turn out pretty tasty, but we might be scouting around some more for the perfect sushi-grade fish.
We figured a miso soup would go well with the sushi, we used a recipe out of this awesome Vegetarian Basics cookbook. I'll dig up the recipe and post it in a bit :)
B & O Espresso
I've always loved B&O's fabulous desserts - those Rum Balls are to die for! But last friday, we were especially happy to have B&O around. After a long kayak ride and the drive back, it was almost midnight and we were dying of hunger. And B&O serves dinner till 00:00 hours! Woo Hoo!! So, we rolled in there all grubby and starving!
The menu there is such a hodge podge of cuisines - obviously a lot of middle eastern flavors, but they also have a ton of sandwiches, some pastas, steak and probably a lot more! We got the lentil soup - they totally ODed on the vinegar here. I usually love the flavor of a dash of balsamic vinegar in moroccan lentil soup, but this soup had way too much of it, totally overwhelmed the bay leaf and lentil flavors. Guess Pupp's clam chowder (New England style, as I learned :)) was pretty decent.
We then dug into the Egyptian foul (pronounced "fool") and a spinach salad. The foul was again doused with vinegar (instead of lemon juice?!) and wasn't as flavorful as I remembered. The spinach salad had mushrooms (I think that's a no-no for spinach salads!) and almost swimming in dressing *ick*. But when you're hungry, pretty much anything tastes quite decent :)
Our drink of the night was actually pretty decent - coffee spiked with Godiva liqueur and Drambuie (I think) - warm and fuzzy!
The menu there is such a hodge podge of cuisines - obviously a lot of middle eastern flavors, but they also have a ton of sandwiches, some pastas, steak and probably a lot more! We got the lentil soup - they totally ODed on the vinegar here. I usually love the flavor of a dash of balsamic vinegar in moroccan lentil soup, but this soup had way too much of it, totally overwhelmed the bay leaf and lentil flavors. Guess Pupp's clam chowder (New England style, as I learned :)) was pretty decent.
We then dug into the Egyptian foul (pronounced "fool") and a spinach salad. The foul was again doused with vinegar (instead of lemon juice?!) and wasn't as flavorful as I remembered. The spinach salad had mushrooms (I think that's a no-no for spinach salads!) and almost swimming in dressing *ick*. But when you're hungry, pretty much anything tastes quite decent :)
Our drink of the night was actually pretty decent - coffee spiked with Godiva liqueur and Drambuie (I think) - warm and fuzzy!
Paddy Coynes - *yay*!
*lots* of kayaking ==> tired muscles and hungry bellies!
Our starving bellies were craving burgers after the Mountains to Sound relay. And it was time to try out Paddy Coynes off Fairview. And we loved it except for the irish music playing in the background (I was too tired to start my riverdance that evening! :) ).
Like often, I ordered the all-exclusive garden burger (?!! I kid :) ) and Pupp got the Fish'n'Chips (didn't realize this had Alaskan cod, maybe I'll try it next time!). My burger was awesome - granted it was just a garden burger, but the bread was great, the onions was awesome. I was *happy*. And some shoestring fries and we were in carb-heaven :)
Plus they seem have a pretty good selection of beer on tap (not like I drink much beer, but I did have a pint that day :))
Our starving bellies were craving burgers after the Mountains to Sound relay. And it was time to try out Paddy Coynes off Fairview. And we loved it except for the irish music playing in the background (I was too tired to start my riverdance that evening! :) ).
Like often, I ordered the all-exclusive garden burger (?!! I kid :) ) and Pupp got the Fish'n'Chips (didn't realize this had Alaskan cod, maybe I'll try it next time!). My burger was awesome - granted it was just a garden burger, but the bread was great, the onions was awesome. I was *happy*. And some shoestring fries and we were in carb-heaven :)
Plus they seem have a pretty good selection of beer on tap (not like I drink much beer, but I did have a pint that day :))
Kayaking the Sammamish Slough
As training for the Mountains to Sound relay on sunday, we decided to do a test run of our route along the stretch of the Sammamish Slough. This whole kayaking thing sounded like a lot of fun (to me atleast! :)) but all the prep work is turning out to be really tedious. I had a minor panic session a few days ago when NWOC said that they were completely sold out of take-away kayaks for the weekend. "There is some race happening this weekend ..." said the gal there. "Well, we're taking part in that race! We need a kayak too!!" Oh well! Moss Bay finally bailed us out and even offered to help us get the kayak on the car. Thanks, Moss Bay!
We planned on starting our kayaking about 5ish, but it turned out to be more like 6:45 when we hit the water. And the slough seemed more like a puddle in places, we couldn't put our rudder out and were scraping the bottom with our oars. But it was an amazing ride - the weather was perfect, the sun was out and there were tons of birds around. We saw several kinds of ducks, geese and a ton of herons that kept flying over our heads. And we even got to see several beavers!
Well, 12 miles with our super heavy kayak took a lot longer than we expected! It was dark by the time we got to Lake Washington and Thad had to navigate us around before we finally got to the shore. He was expecting us at Log Boom Park at about 9:15, but we ended up reaching there close to 10 pm! Thanks Thaddie for driving us around! :)
We planned on starting our kayaking about 5ish, but it turned out to be more like 6:45 when we hit the water. And the slough seemed more like a puddle in places, we couldn't put our rudder out and were scraping the bottom with our oars. But it was an amazing ride - the weather was perfect, the sun was out and there were tons of birds around. We saw several kinds of ducks, geese and a ton of herons that kept flying over our heads. And we even got to see several beavers!
Well, 12 miles with our super heavy kayak took a lot longer than we expected! It was dark by the time we got to Lake Washington and Thad had to navigate us around before we finally got to the shore. He was expecting us at Log Boom Park at about 9:15, but we ended up reaching there close to 10 pm! Thanks Thaddie for driving us around! :)
Montlake Ale House
After our first kayaking session this year, we hit Montlake Ale House on 23rd. We drive by this place all the time, but have never been in there.
Definite pluses:
* Pretty good beer selection on tap
* Hales Cream on tap *yay*!
* The bartender makes a yummy baileys+coffee+etc
* Nice space, fun company at the bar
The menu looked pretty good - they even have a bunch of veggie options. We got pasta in a wine sauce and this eggplant sandwich. And of course, being the unofficial onion rings reviewer around town, I had to swap out the fries for some rings - and they were pretty good. The pasta was mediocre - too runny, the sandwich was decent - a little too messy and rich, but tasty nevertheless.
We could hit this spot again, especially after another round of kayaking :)
Definite pluses:
* Pretty good beer selection on tap
* Hales Cream on tap *yay*!
* The bartender makes a yummy baileys+coffee+etc
* Nice space, fun company at the bar
The menu looked pretty good - they even have a bunch of veggie options. We got pasta in a wine sauce and this eggplant sandwich. And of course, being the unofficial onion rings reviewer around town, I had to swap out the fries for some rings - and they were pretty good. The pasta was mediocre - too runny, the sandwich was decent - a little too messy and rich, but tasty nevertheless.
We could hit this spot again, especially after another round of kayaking :)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Woooo! First kayak ride of the year!
About time we did it too - given we're doing the kayak segment in the Mountains to Sound relay next week!
It was a pretty decent evening - 70F, partly cloudy. We headed up to Agua Verde and rented our 2-person kayak. Our route included going to Ballard Bridge, possibly past it to the locks. We had a headwind going in and we haven't kayaked all year, so it took a bit to get into sync. But it was a great evening to be kayaking and there weren't too many boats out there, so we didn't have to fight too many waves. It is pretty amazing how different the terrain seems from the water, we often didn't recognize the buildings (especially on the Queen Anne side)!
We kayaked till Ballard Bridge and wisely decided to turn back - my arms started getting tired though Pupp seemed to be going strong. *Yay*! Tailwind! Paddling gets easier! Pretty uneventful, we just moseyed back - saw a ton of ducks and several boats whose passengers were playing some scavenger hunt in the water! They asked us a couple of trivia questions that we didn't know the answer to:
Who is the Norse goddess of love? Apparently 'Freya', but we didn't know that!
And how deep is Lake Union? 15 meters (didn't know that either!)
Took us about 2 hours to do 7.2 miles - *much* slower than we expected. Hopefully, we can get a little faster (in the next week?!!) and paddling downstream along Sammamish Slough should be easier too.
*fun*!
It was a pretty decent evening - 70F, partly cloudy. We headed up to Agua Verde and rented our 2-person kayak. Our route included going to Ballard Bridge, possibly past it to the locks. We had a headwind going in and we haven't kayaked all year, so it took a bit to get into sync. But it was a great evening to be kayaking and there weren't too many boats out there, so we didn't have to fight too many waves. It is pretty amazing how different the terrain seems from the water, we often didn't recognize the buildings (especially on the Queen Anne side)!
We kayaked till Ballard Bridge and wisely decided to turn back - my arms started getting tired though Pupp seemed to be going strong. *Yay*! Tailwind! Paddling gets easier! Pretty uneventful, we just moseyed back - saw a ton of ducks and several boats whose passengers were playing some scavenger hunt in the water! They asked us a couple of trivia questions that we didn't know the answer to:
Who is the Norse goddess of love? Apparently 'Freya', but we didn't know that!
And how deep is Lake Union? 15 meters (didn't know that either!)
Took us about 2 hours to do 7.2 miles - *much* slower than we expected. Hopefully, we can get a little faster (in the next week?!!) and paddling downstream along Sammamish Slough should be easier too.
*fun*!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
More kozhambu and Tinda curry - *yum*!
About time I cooked some traditional desi food - every once in a while, I crave for more kozhambu the way my mum makes it. And last night was one of those times. And I had white pumpkin (often used in indian and asian cooking) and some punjabi tinda, yay!
More kozhambu is a staple south indian dish - often made on most festival days. It is buttermilk based, but the spices can vary greatly depending on which region the recipe originated from. And it can be made with a variety of vegetables - actually one of the few dishes that I like throwing okra into!
Masala for more kozhambu:
======================
1/2 t fenugreek seeds
1/2 t coriander seeds
1/4 t cumin seeds
1 t channa dal
1 t tuar dal
1/2 t raw rice
1/4 cup grated coconut
1" ginger
1 red chilli
1 green chilli
1/4 t asafoetida
Dry roast all spices and grind them up finely in a spice mill.
More kozhambu (serves 2-3)
=======================
1/4 white pumpkin - peeled and julienned
1 t mustard
2 red chillies
1 t urad dal
A few curry leaves
1 cup fat-free sour cream
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 t turmeric
1 t sesame oil
Above-mentioned masala
Salt
Roast mustard, red chillies curry leaves and urad dal in oil.
Add 1 cup of water and cook the pumpkin with the turmeric (~ 10 mins).
Add the masala and salt and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Mix the sour cream and buttermilk and blend it till smooth (add a little water if it is too thick).
Add the sour cream mixture to the veggies and simmer.
Stir constantly to blend the flavors, but don't turn up the heat since it can break up the buttermilk.
Add a drop of ghee for flavor and fragrance - this makes a huge difference :)
Tinda is a seasonal vegetable in India, so we were always excited when we found it in the market. And when we did, my mum always tried new recipes with it - *so* much of fun! This is just one quick way of cooking it.
Tinda Curry (serves 2-3)
===================
1 lb tinda (the indian store often has it) - cut into quarters
2 tsp masala (equal parts of red chillies, roasted fenugreek, mustard - all ground up)
Salt
1 t oil
1 t cumin seeds
Roast the cumin seeds in oil
Add the masala and salt and let it cook for about 30 seconds
Throw in the tinda and toss the pieces in the masala
Cook covered for about 15 minutes on medium
Simmer uncovered for a few more minutes till any residual water evaporates
*yum*!
More kozhambu is a staple south indian dish - often made on most festival days. It is buttermilk based, but the spices can vary greatly depending on which region the recipe originated from. And it can be made with a variety of vegetables - actually one of the few dishes that I like throwing okra into!
Masala for more kozhambu:
======================
1/2 t fenugreek seeds
1/2 t coriander seeds
1/4 t cumin seeds
1 t channa dal
1 t tuar dal
1/2 t raw rice
1/4 cup grated coconut
1" ginger
1 red chilli
1 green chilli
1/4 t asafoetida
Dry roast all spices and grind them up finely in a spice mill.
More kozhambu (serves 2-3)
=======================
1/4 white pumpkin - peeled and julienned
1 t mustard
2 red chillies
1 t urad dal
A few curry leaves
1 cup fat-free sour cream
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 t turmeric
1 t sesame oil
Above-mentioned masala
Salt
Roast mustard, red chillies curry leaves and urad dal in oil.
Add 1 cup of water and cook the pumpkin with the turmeric (~ 10 mins).
Add the masala and salt and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Mix the sour cream and buttermilk and blend it till smooth (add a little water if it is too thick).
Add the sour cream mixture to the veggies and simmer.
Stir constantly to blend the flavors, but don't turn up the heat since it can break up the buttermilk.
Add a drop of ghee for flavor and fragrance - this makes a huge difference :)
Tinda is a seasonal vegetable in India, so we were always excited when we found it in the market. And when we did, my mum always tried new recipes with it - *so* much of fun! This is just one quick way of cooking it.
Tinda Curry (serves 2-3)
===================
1 lb tinda (the indian store often has it) - cut into quarters
2 tsp masala (equal parts of red chillies, roasted fenugreek, mustard - all ground up)
Salt
1 t oil
1 t cumin seeds
Roast the cumin seeds in oil
Add the masala and salt and let it cook for about 30 seconds
Throw in the tinda and toss the pieces in the masala
Cook covered for about 15 minutes on medium
Simmer uncovered for a few more minutes till any residual water evaporates
*yum*!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Spicy Ramen with vegetables
A couple of days ago, I was craving indo-chinese spicy noodles - oddly enough, this qualifies as comfort food :) I couldn't find hakka noodles at PCC, so I had to settle for ramen instead - they now carry this spicy garlic-pepper veggie ramen noodles (that are low-fat!). Figured I could approximate the flavor I wanted by adding some bhel puri sauces.
Recipe:
1/2 cabbage - shredded (I *love* cutting cabbage!)
2 carrots - grated
1" ginger - minced
a handful of dry roasted peanuts
2 packets of ramen noodles
1 t garlic-green chilli sauce
1 t red chilli-tamarind sauce
1 t white vinegar
Cook the carrots, ginger and cabbage covered (no need to add more water since the cabbage sheds enough water).
Add 3 cups of water and heat till the water boils
Throw in the noodles and cook for ~ 3-4 minutes
Add the sauces, vinegar and peanuts and toss
Mmm ... tasty! Except that I tossed in 2 t of each of the sauces and kicked it up about 10 notches! Oooo .... *hot*! Even for my spice-loving tongue!!!
Recipe:
1/2 cabbage - shredded (I *love* cutting cabbage!)
2 carrots - grated
1" ginger - minced
a handful of dry roasted peanuts
2 packets of ramen noodles
1 t garlic-green chilli sauce
1 t red chilli-tamarind sauce
1 t white vinegar
Cook the carrots, ginger and cabbage covered (no need to add more water since the cabbage sheds enough water).
Add 3 cups of water and heat till the water boils
Throw in the noodles and cook for ~ 3-4 minutes
Add the sauces, vinegar and peanuts and toss
Mmm ... tasty! Except that I tossed in 2 t of each of the sauces and kicked it up about 10 notches! Oooo .... *hot*! Even for my spice-loving tongue!!!
Beans and Pasta Casserole
Got to love that Joy of Cooking book! I've been reading more of that than anything else in the last several days!
I got a bunch of fresh green beans at PCC and started poking around JofC trying to find a new beans recipe. And I stumbled upon a couple of casserole and gratin recipes. But both asked for cream of mushroom soups - and I didn't have any (not a big fan of them creamy soups!). So, this is what I cooked up instead:
1/2 lb green beans - chopped into 2" pieces
2 cups of pasta (rotelle)
2-3 bay leaves
1.5 cups milk
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup flour
Salt'n'pepper
1/3 cup grated pepperjack cheese
1 tomato - finely minced (best to use a hand blender for this)
Cook the pasta till al dente.
Cook the green beans till tender (I just cooked both together)
Heat oven to 350F.
Heat butter, add flour and stir.
Add bay leaves and milk and stir (on simmer) till smooth and thick.
Toss the pasta and beans into this sauce.
Add the grated cheese, toss and pour into casserole dish.
Sprinkle the tomato shreds on the top.
Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.
*yay*!
I got a bunch of fresh green beans at PCC and started poking around JofC trying to find a new beans recipe. And I stumbled upon a couple of casserole and gratin recipes. But both asked for cream of mushroom soups - and I didn't have any (not a big fan of them creamy soups!). So, this is what I cooked up instead:
1/2 lb green beans - chopped into 2" pieces
2 cups of pasta (rotelle)
2-3 bay leaves
1.5 cups milk
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup flour
Salt'n'pepper
1/3 cup grated pepperjack cheese
1 tomato - finely minced (best to use a hand blender for this)
Cook the pasta till al dente.
Cook the green beans till tender (I just cooked both together)
Heat oven to 350F.
Heat butter, add flour and stir.
Add bay leaves and milk and stir (on simmer) till smooth and thick.
Toss the pasta and beans into this sauce.
Add the grated cheese, toss and pour into casserole dish.
Sprinkle the tomato shreds on the top.
Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.
*yay*!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Alborz rocks!
Yay! Another trip to Alborz - my fave Persian restaurant around here - this small restaurant in Redmond is run by this couple who basically handle everything there - seating, taking orders, cooking, serving, the works! Their food is *so* good - simple, fresh and quite tasty! And they have the best pickled garlic ever.
As I was mulling over what I wanted to eat, Farah gave me a sample of the hummus and maust moosier (the fabulous shallot-yogurt dip) to go with my basil naan - this might be my new favorite naan here (it was always the sesame cumin naan). I finally settled on the Baughali Polo (lima-dill rice) - my old favorite along with a side of the eggplant ragout - absolutely divine. The lima-dill rice is perfectly cooked and incredibly fragrant - *so* good!
And obviously, I had to finish my meal with a cup of the minty green tea - the perfect end to a fabulous meal.
As I was mulling over what I wanted to eat, Farah gave me a sample of the hummus and maust moosier (the fabulous shallot-yogurt dip) to go with my basil naan - this might be my new favorite naan here (it was always the sesame cumin naan). I finally settled on the Baughali Polo (lima-dill rice) - my old favorite along with a side of the eggplant ragout - absolutely divine. The lima-dill rice is perfectly cooked and incredibly fragrant - *so* good!
And obviously, I had to finish my meal with a cup of the minty green tea - the perfect end to a fabulous meal.
Sushi time - Aoki
We've been lusting for sushi for a while now, but have been too lazy to make 'em rolls as yet. It was a nice evening, so we wandered around Cap'Hill and finally ended up at Aoki (the only decent sushi place we know on the hill right now).
So, it was .... "somewhat" decent, but barely. Actually, I think our first trip there was a lot better than this one. The edamame was weird - the shell kept peeling off in layers making it really hard to eat the peas. Quite irritating. The menu looked pretty good, so we ended up ordering these:
Spicy white tuna rolls - a variation! finally!! This was probably the best of the sushi we had that night. The fish was really tender, almost creamy, but definitely not spicy.
Broadway rolls - with salmon, alfalfa sprouts and some kind of roe - a little too smoky for us.
Veggie futomaki - this was really, really weird. Firstly, each roll was *huge* - about 3 mouthfuls. And it had waaaaay too much of rice in it, and was kind of dry.
Unagi - apparently decent, but not amazing
Spider rolls - these looked pretty good, and I guess they were :)
A decent experience, but there's got to be better sushi in Seattle! Or maybe we hit Aoki on an off-day!
So, it was .... "somewhat" decent, but barely. Actually, I think our first trip there was a lot better than this one. The edamame was weird - the shell kept peeling off in layers making it really hard to eat the peas. Quite irritating. The menu looked pretty good, so we ended up ordering these:
Spicy white tuna rolls - a variation! finally!! This was probably the best of the sushi we had that night. The fish was really tender, almost creamy, but definitely not spicy.
Broadway rolls - with salmon, alfalfa sprouts and some kind of roe - a little too smoky for us.
Veggie futomaki - this was really, really weird. Firstly, each roll was *huge* - about 3 mouthfuls. And it had waaaaay too much of rice in it, and was kind of dry.
Unagi - apparently decent, but not amazing
Spider rolls - these looked pretty good, and I guess they were :)
A decent experience, but there's got to be better sushi in Seattle! Or maybe we hit Aoki on an off-day!
Beans'n'Rice and Corn Maque Choux
We figured it was time to try another recipe from our latest Jay Solomon book - fast becoming one of my favorite cookbooks now. This is the same book that I made the gratin from a while ago. He uses a West Indian recipe and recommends replacing some of the water for the rice with 1/2 cup of coconut milk to enhance flavors. Both the beans and rice were heavy on thyme (I like it way more than I realized!) and cumin (yum! nothing like fresh-ground cumin to enhance the aroma!). We threw in 1/2 cup of wine from one of the many bottles we brought back from BSM into the beans - good idea! I'm now curious about what kind of flavors wine adds to the food. Using a wine vinegar often imparts tartness accompanied by this aftersweet, but wine seems more complex.
Once the rice was cooked (the coconut milk was a killer idea), we mixed the beans and rice and let them simmer for ~ 10 minutes for the flavors to blend - and they did, quite happily!
Corn Maque Choux - Ok, I'm still trying to figure out how to pronounce this, but I'll eat it any day:
1 can corn (couldn't find fresh corn at MM that day)
1/2 bell pepper - chopped
1/2 sweet vidalia onion - chopped
1 tomato - chopped
1 tsp butter
4-5 garlic cloves - minced
Saute onions and garlic in butter till brown
Drain the water from the corn and keep aside
Throw in bell pepper, corn and tomatoes - let this cook for ~ 15 minutes
Add some of the drained water and let it simmer for 5 minutes
Add salt, pepper and a (big) dash of hot sauce
(I might try this with minced jalapenos next time around)
Once the rice was cooked (the coconut milk was a killer idea), we mixed the beans and rice and let them simmer for ~ 10 minutes for the flavors to blend - and they did, quite happily!
Corn Maque Choux - Ok, I'm still trying to figure out how to pronounce this, but I'll eat it any day:
1 can corn (couldn't find fresh corn at MM that day)
1/2 bell pepper - chopped
1/2 sweet vidalia onion - chopped
1 tomato - chopped
1 tsp butter
4-5 garlic cloves - minced
Saute onions and garlic in butter till brown
Drain the water from the corn and keep aside
Throw in bell pepper, corn and tomatoes - let this cook for ~ 15 minutes
Add some of the drained water and let it simmer for 5 minutes
Add salt, pepper and a (big) dash of hot sauce
(I might try this with minced jalapenos next time around)
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Happy Ethiopian food!
Queen Sheba is a happy place. Even if they have lame overpriced bottles of wine. It is a major desi hangout place, I remember hitting it for dindin every couple of weeks back when it was the only ethiopian place I knew in Seattle.
We headed up there after the Obama talk to have dindin with Autumn and Jeremy. We ended up with our staple - a couple of the veggie combo platters and a salad - usually quite yummy, and they kick it up with chopped jalapenos! But this time around, it was lame, seriously lame. A bunch of iceberg lettuce with wonks of tomatoes and little else - and seriously oversalted. They replaced it right away, but the second one wasn't that much better either. It doesn't seem to have the chopped onions anymore - sucks!
The platter was great, as always - even better with their house hot sauce. The lentils and peas were yummy, the cabbage was incredibly flavorful. The greens were a little bland, but still decent. The best part of the meal was the injera that lined the platter - it soaks up the flavors and juices from all the entrees and tastes simply divine! :)
I was poking around reading about Ethiopian food and read that the injera is literally used as a tablecloth for a meal - crazy!
And I just saw this great recipe archive that seems to have a ton of african recipes.
We headed up there after the Obama talk to have dindin with Autumn and Jeremy. We ended up with our staple - a couple of the veggie combo platters and a salad - usually quite yummy, and they kick it up with chopped jalapenos! But this time around, it was lame, seriously lame. A bunch of iceberg lettuce with wonks of tomatoes and little else - and seriously oversalted. They replaced it right away, but the second one wasn't that much better either. It doesn't seem to have the chopped onions anymore - sucks!
The platter was great, as always - even better with their house hot sauce. The lentils and peas were yummy, the cabbage was incredibly flavorful. The greens were a little bland, but still decent. The best part of the meal was the injera that lined the platter - it soaks up the flavors and juices from all the entrees and tastes simply divine! :)
I was poking around reading about Ethiopian food and read that the injera is literally used as a tablecloth for a meal - crazy!
And I just saw this great recipe archive that seems to have a ton of african recipes.
Sorella - *bleh*
Biking to Madison Park left us famished. The problem was that we were craving brunch and the few brunch eateries there stop serving at 1 pm! That is plain wrong - they need to learn from all the great places up on Cap'Hill that dish out brunch till 3 pm!
So, after much fruitless wandering, we landed up at Sorella's - this pizza/pasta place near the water. Looked decent, pizza sounded passable, so we went in there. The guy who handled our order was plain weird - he seemed extremely flustered, even though the place was not packed and tried to rush us through our order. Autumn wanted one of her "custom" italian sodas with little fizz, lots of cream and flavoring. And he didn't seem to think she needed more cream!
Autumn: "I'd like extra cream in my soda"
Guy: "Oh, our sodas come with a lot of cream."
Autumn: "But I'd like more cream in mine."
Guy: "I don't think you'll need more."
Hmm ... wait, so he knows what she wants better than her now?
Autumn: "Well, I'd like some extra cream in it anyway!"
Guy: "I'll bring your soda. And if the cream isn't enough, I'll get you a couple of little containers of half'n'half!"
Give up, Autumn! Just drink that soda. Well, Jeremy will drink it anyway! And he did :)
So, back to our order. We're starving, so we order a 1/2 pesto, 1/2 cheese pizza. And the hummus appetizer that sounds yummy. Except it doesn't quite taste that great. The bread is awesome, the hummus ... tastes like store-bought. And swimming in a plate of oil. *bleh*
Ok, pizza is finally here. Hmm ... slathered in cheese. Not great. Not much to write home about.
Scratching Sorella off our M'Park restaurant options.
So, after much fruitless wandering, we landed up at Sorella's - this pizza/pasta place near the water. Looked decent, pizza sounded passable, so we went in there. The guy who handled our order was plain weird - he seemed extremely flustered, even though the place was not packed and tried to rush us through our order. Autumn wanted one of her "custom" italian sodas with little fizz, lots of cream and flavoring. And he didn't seem to think she needed more cream!
Autumn: "I'd like extra cream in my soda"
Guy: "Oh, our sodas come with a lot of cream."
Autumn: "But I'd like more cream in mine."
Guy: "I don't think you'll need more."
Hmm ... wait, so he knows what she wants better than her now?
Autumn: "Well, I'd like some extra cream in it anyway!"
Guy: "I'll bring your soda. And if the cream isn't enough, I'll get you a couple of little containers of half'n'half!"
Give up, Autumn! Just drink that soda. Well, Jeremy will drink it anyway! And he did :)
So, back to our order. We're starving, so we order a 1/2 pesto, 1/2 cheese pizza. And the hummus appetizer that sounds yummy. Except it doesn't quite taste that great. The bread is awesome, the hummus ... tastes like store-bought. And swimming in a plate of oil. *bleh*
Ok, pizza is finally here. Hmm ... slathered in cheese. Not great. Not much to write home about.
Scratching Sorella off our M'Park restaurant options.
Wooooo - biking!
Finally! First bike ride of the year! We mounted our bikes and headed off towards Madison Park with Autumn & Jeremy earlier today. We checked our route down there and back and yes, it seemed hilly, but we could do it, right? Well, I conveniently forgot that I'd just done 16 super hilly miles on saturday and my legs were quite tired. And that showed. Real soon!
Just the ride down to Madison Park from Pike isn't really all downhill. There were a couple of steep hills we needed to conquer before we finally started flying down the mountain - felt *so* good. That's one of my favorite parts of biking- the wind rushing in my face! So, we headed down to Madison Park Cafe for brunch - we'd heard good things about their food and were starving. So we go in, sit down, guzzle some agua and wait ... the waitress comes up and says "We've been really busy, so we're out of potatoes and spinach and ..."! What?! No breakfast potatoes?!! That sucks! So, we leave and scrounge around for another place to eat. We finally land up at Sorella's (we'll save the details for later!), finish up a very mediocre brunch and start biking back.
*wow* The hills seemed steeper on a full stomach! So, we weaved our way around, trying to find a flat side street to break the arduousness of the hills. We wrapped around the hill, up McGilvra to avoid directly cresting it - and it definitely helped some. My gears still seem a little flaky - got to figure out what's going on with that.
Pretty short route, but hard and fun, lots of fun!
Just the ride down to Madison Park from Pike isn't really all downhill. There were a couple of steep hills we needed to conquer before we finally started flying down the mountain - felt *so* good. That's one of my favorite parts of biking- the wind rushing in my face! So, we headed down to Madison Park Cafe for brunch - we'd heard good things about their food and were starving. So we go in, sit down, guzzle some agua and wait ... the waitress comes up and says "We've been really busy, so we're out of potatoes and spinach and ..."! What?! No breakfast potatoes?!! That sucks! So, we leave and scrounge around for another place to eat. We finally land up at Sorella's (we'll save the details for later!), finish up a very mediocre brunch and start biking back.
*wow* The hills seemed steeper on a full stomach! So, we weaved our way around, trying to find a flat side street to break the arduousness of the hills. We wrapped around the hill, up McGilvra to avoid directly cresting it - and it definitely helped some. My gears still seem a little flaky - got to figure out what's going on with that.
Pretty short route, but hard and fun, lots of fun!
BSM - *yesssssss*!!!
The perfect birthday eve meal. Seriously, it couldn't get any better than this. And we got to see Vee and Martin for the second time in a week! Wooooo!! We finally got around to taking Bobbie and Nami up to BSM after months of threatening to drag them there. And Daria came with us too. *so* much of fun!
So, this is among our top 10 restaurants. *ever*. Even outside of the fact that our friends own the place :) I've had midnight cravings for the nudi ravioli - seriously mindblowing! And that is the only restaurant where I tried a steak - loved it!
We started off with a li'l snack - a thin tortilla chip with a pineapple-mango-onion-something else salsa that was fabulous - a perfect starter! I can still taste it in my mouth. And then the signature Bistro San Martini - *so* tasty!
We then ordered the asparagus (Daria and I can *never* resist fresh asparagus :)) and the ravioli. And Martin brought us a plate of stuffed tomatoes - *so* yummy! And then we sampled the cucumber soup - I'm not a fan of cucumber soup - ever since I had the weird cold cucumber -puree (aka soup!) at Ray's Boathouse, I've been semi-turned off on cucumber.
I got my usual veggie-surprise entree - roasted yams, potatoes, asparagus, beans on a bed of risotto with the trademark potato chip on top - *divine*! I couldn't eat it all there, so we got it boxed, but I quickly ate up the leftovers once we got home :) Pupp and Bobbie got the scallops - I tried one and it was really tasty, I might have to try it again sometime soon. Nami got the oven roasted chicken and loved it, Daria was pretty much drooling over her food, I didn't remember what she got, Pupp says she got the lamb chops. :)
Dessert was just one piece of the decadent Naughty Chocolate Cake with a hint of cayenne - delightful! And I even got a candle :)
We love that BSM - feels like home - fabulous food, lots of love and friends all around.
So, this is among our top 10 restaurants. *ever*. Even outside of the fact that our friends own the place :) I've had midnight cravings for the nudi ravioli - seriously mindblowing! And that is the only restaurant where I tried a steak - loved it!
We started off with a li'l snack - a thin tortilla chip with a pineapple-mango-onion-something else salsa that was fabulous - a perfect starter! I can still taste it in my mouth. And then the signature Bistro San Martini - *so* tasty!
We then ordered the asparagus (Daria and I can *never* resist fresh asparagus :)) and the ravioli. And Martin brought us a plate of stuffed tomatoes - *so* yummy! And then we sampled the cucumber soup - I'm not a fan of cucumber soup - ever since I had the weird cold cucumber -puree (aka soup!) at Ray's Boathouse, I've been semi-turned off on cucumber.
I got my usual veggie-surprise entree - roasted yams, potatoes, asparagus, beans on a bed of risotto with the trademark potato chip on top - *divine*! I couldn't eat it all there, so we got it boxed, but I quickly ate up the leftovers once we got home :) Pupp and Bobbie got the scallops - I tried one and it was really tasty, I might have to try it again sometime soon. Nami got the oven roasted chicken and loved it, Daria was pretty much drooling over her food, I didn't remember what she got, Pupp says she got the lamb chops. :)
Dessert was just one piece of the decadent Naughty Chocolate Cake with a hint of cayenne - delightful! And I even got a candle :)
We love that BSM - feels like home - fabulous food, lots of love and friends all around.
Dare to believe?
We were at Obama's Seattle kickoff meeting last friday. I've never been to any political rally or event here, so it was pretty exciting. We're obviously democrat, but somewhat idealistic - we want change, we crave change, lots of positive change. We want reform - in healthcare, schools, taxes, the works. We want action on global warming, the Iraq war, the oil crisis, what not! And being an immigrant, I can't help but crave for healthy cross-nation relationships. Yes, quite idealistic :)
We were told that the event was starting at 5:30, so we ran in hoping to snag a decent spot. It was our first time at WaMu theater in Qwest Field - not a bad location. The swarm of general attendees (including us) stood in the main area in front of the stage while the pricier tickets sat farther behind on the sides. The place was quite packed, Seattle in general seems quite sympathetic towards Barack, so that wasn't surprising.
Anyway, the event started off with a welcome address and some entertainment -a little unexpected, but sounded interesting. They started off with some high energy african music and dance - really fun. The performers were pretty good, the crowd loved it! And then, this kid from Tacoma came on stage with his guitar - and started belting out some really morbid songs about death and hopelessness (?!!) - and he wasn't even a decent singer! *such* a relief when he finally went off stage!
Finally, Barack came on - very personable, warm and welcoming - guess being at your best is also made easier in such a friendly crowd! :) I was first drawn to Obama when he made that inspiring speech at the 2004 DNC. His earnestness and intensity struck a note that has seemed like a rarity for a while - I don't remember the last time that kind of sincerity resonated in a politician. I think his biggest draw is how he draws people together - seems like bringing the society and community together is the best way to actually force change - the whole "government of the people, by the people, for the people" thing. He touched all the subjects that matter to us, did not necessarily outline his path to getting there, but did deliver the message about the disparity between where we are and where we should be.
Obviously, he needs to start detailing his strategies and vision, where do we go and how do we get there. But this definitely seems like a decent start!
We were told that the event was starting at 5:30, so we ran in hoping to snag a decent spot. It was our first time at WaMu theater in Qwest Field - not a bad location. The swarm of general attendees (including us) stood in the main area in front of the stage while the pricier tickets sat farther behind on the sides. The place was quite packed, Seattle in general seems quite sympathetic towards Barack, so that wasn't surprising.
Anyway, the event started off with a welcome address and some entertainment -a little unexpected, but sounded interesting. They started off with some high energy african music and dance - really fun. The performers were pretty good, the crowd loved it! And then, this kid from Tacoma came on stage with his guitar - and started belting out some really morbid songs about death and hopelessness (?!!) - and he wasn't even a decent singer! *such* a relief when he finally went off stage!
Finally, Barack came on - very personable, warm and welcoming - guess being at your best is also made easier in such a friendly crowd! :) I was first drawn to Obama when he made that inspiring speech at the 2004 DNC. His earnestness and intensity struck a note that has seemed like a rarity for a while - I don't remember the last time that kind of sincerity resonated in a politician. I think his biggest draw is how he draws people together - seems like bringing the society and community together is the best way to actually force change - the whole "government of the people, by the people, for the people" thing. He touched all the subjects that matter to us, did not necessarily outline his path to getting there, but did deliver the message about the disparity between where we are and where we should be.
Obviously, he needs to start detailing his strategies and vision, where do we go and how do we get there. But this definitely seems like a decent start!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
A birthday per calendar :)
So, apparently today is my "star" birthday (according to the hindu calendar). So, this got us thinking about how solar and lunar calendars correlate. I've heard my dad talk about this (he's a serious astrology buff), but obviously it didn't stick :)
But why fear when Wikipedia is here! Which taught me the concept of a lunisolar calendar. And that intercalations are not just about adding a day for a leap year, but could also involve adding a week or even a month (like lunisolar calendars do every 2-3 years to match with the solar calendar). Which explains why solar and lunar birthdays are usually within a couple of weeks of each other.
Another interesting fact: apparently some lunisolar calendars can use the state of vegetation (depending on season, I guess) to determine when the leap month needs to be added! The Hindu calendar uses the phase of the moon to determine this.
This illustration of the hindu calendar simplifies a lot of the calculations of festival dates - which fall back by 11 days every year (because the lunar calendar has fixed months, but approximate years compared to the solar calendar).
But why fear when Wikipedia is here! Which taught me the concept of a lunisolar calendar. And that intercalations are not just about adding a day for a leap year, but could also involve adding a week or even a month (like lunisolar calendars do every 2-3 years to match with the solar calendar). Which explains why solar and lunar birthdays are usually within a couple of weeks of each other.
Another interesting fact: apparently some lunisolar calendars can use the state of vegetation (depending on season, I guess) to determine when the leap month needs to be added! The Hindu calendar uses the phase of the moon to determine this.
This illustration of the hindu calendar simplifies a lot of the calculations of festival dates - which fall back by 11 days every year (because the lunar calendar has fixed months, but approximate years compared to the solar calendar).
Granville Island Vet Hospital - among the best!
After an almost sleepless night with Vodka constantly shaking his head trying to clear his ears, I hopped on the internet to figure out what could be wrong. Hmm ... ear infection? Hematoma?!! Ear mites?!!! Eeeeek! Time to visit the vet! Except, we were in Vancouver. Wait, I have a vague memory of someone saying that the Granville Island Vet Hospital is pretty decent. And we were going to hit the public market anyway.
That hospital is awesome. I have pretty high standards after going to Redwood Animal Hospital, but this place rules. And Dr.Adam is awesome. Yes, it was a ear infection. And no ear mites! Phew! And she did a full physical on him. And I even got to peek into his gross ears :)
Ate a few treats, got a good brushing from the tech there and Vodka was all ready to go play again!
Thanks GIVH!
That hospital is awesome. I have pretty high standards after going to Redwood Animal Hospital, but this place rules. And Dr.Adam is awesome. Yes, it was a ear infection. And no ear mites! Phew! And she did a full physical on him. And I even got to peek into his gross ears :)
Ate a few treats, got a good brushing from the tech there and Vodka was all ready to go play again!
Thanks GIVH!
Whistler rocks - year round!
We were in Whistler on sunday and finally got a chance to check out the new bike park. It looks awesome! Might just have to try that out this year :)
It is pretty cool to hit a place that still has spring skiing happening on one mountain, while the other mountain has its slopes paved for mountain biking trails. And they even had a li'l zipline going near the whistler gondola - very cool!
Since dogs are not allowed in the gondolas (sucks!), Vodka and I decided to hike up Blackcomb while my mum, et al went up the gondola. It was pretty fun, we just followed the path of the ropes up the mountain. It was a beautiful day, and the moutain looks so different without the snow. And it is steep! Just as we went up this wicked gully, I saw a black creature about 1/4 mile up the mountain. Wait, make that 2 creatures. Mama bear and baby bear! Weeeee!!! First wildlife sighting in Whistler (and I don't have a pic :( ). We wandered up another 100m or so, but I decided to turn back - didn't think Vodka would end up protecting me from a disgruntled mama bear! :)
It is pretty cool to hit a place that still has spring skiing happening on one mountain, while the other mountain has its slopes paved for mountain biking trails. And they even had a li'l zipline going near the whistler gondola - very cool!
Since dogs are not allowed in the gondolas (sucks!), Vodka and I decided to hike up Blackcomb while my mum, et al went up the gondola. It was pretty fun, we just followed the path of the ropes up the mountain. It was a beautiful day, and the moutain looks so different without the snow. And it is steep! Just as we went up this wicked gully, I saw a black creature about 1/4 mile up the mountain. Wait, make that 2 creatures. Mama bear and baby bear! Weeeee!!! First wildlife sighting in Whistler (and I don't have a pic :( ). We wandered up another 100m or so, but I decided to turn back - didn't think Vodka would end up protecting me from a disgruntled mama bear! :)
House of Dosas - quite yummy!
As part of our quest for desi food in Vancouver, we hit House of Dosas on Kingsway - the place had no ambience whatsoever, but we heard good reviews about it.
The menu had enough dosa options to justify the name, so we got all excited! We started off with the pakoras (my mum was really leery about this, she didn't think the place "looked" desi enough!), but these were among the best restaurant pakoras we've had in a while. *yum* Then we ordered several dosas - the madras masala, paneer dosa and even an uthappam - which was awesome! The dosas were slightly tart, just the way we like it. And the paper dosa was super crisp and hot.
The carrot chutney was real tasty, but the sambar left a lot to be desired - not spicy enough, and definitely lacked tamarind. The one weird thing was that they had run out of idli podi (it was called "gunpowder" on the menu :) ) - that is plain wrong! No south indian restaurant should *ever* run out of this!
And we loved that the plates were all shaped like banana leaves - in fact, we initially thought that they were serving us on fresh leaves - nice touch! :) And the waiter talked to us in Tamil, haven't heard that in a restaurant in a while! Next time, I'll have to try their rava dosa.
The menu had enough dosa options to justify the name, so we got all excited! We started off with the pakoras (my mum was really leery about this, she didn't think the place "looked" desi enough!), but these were among the best restaurant pakoras we've had in a while. *yum* Then we ordered several dosas - the madras masala, paneer dosa and even an uthappam - which was awesome! The dosas were slightly tart, just the way we like it. And the paper dosa was super crisp and hot.
The carrot chutney was real tasty, but the sambar left a lot to be desired - not spicy enough, and definitely lacked tamarind. The one weird thing was that they had run out of idli podi (it was called "gunpowder" on the menu :) ) - that is plain wrong! No south indian restaurant should *ever* run out of this!
And we loved that the plates were all shaped like banana leaves - in fact, we initially thought that they were serving us on fresh leaves - nice touch! :) And the waiter talked to us in Tamil, haven't heard that in a restaurant in a while! Next time, I'll have to try their rava dosa.
The new and huge La Spiga
So, we finally got to check out La Spiga after they moved into their new location on 12th. This place is ginormous (the Lipp should've trademarked that word when he could've!). And we dindined with Vee and Martin (*yay*!)
Verdict:
The space is incredible - we were gawking at the high ceilings and the stark interior all evening. The patio is awesome - especially the chef's table. The huge inside space is well partitioned by the booths in the middle and the long couch - love that couch! And the decor is great - lots of old copper pots and pans on shelves, stark lighting, solid wooden tables, very nice.
The food - Not mindblowing, but pretty good. I'll give it a 3/5. The piadinas - as good as ever! The appetizers and salads looked a lot more interesting than the entrees. The roasted beet salad was pretty good, as was the cheese plate (especially that super creamy stinky brie!). My lentil&tomato soup was clearly oversalted and the flavors did not really stand out. The roasted potatoes were disappointing too - some of them seemed too dry, though drenched in olive oil. Pupp liked his risotto (the zucchini base was an interesting twist), Vee thought the pork was pretty decent and Martin said the lasagna was passable (this coming from the guy who makes the best lasagna I've *ever* eaten in my life!).
The wine list looks pretty impressive, and the Barolo we ordered was delicious.
Verdict:
The space is incredible - we were gawking at the high ceilings and the stark interior all evening. The patio is awesome - especially the chef's table. The huge inside space is well partitioned by the booths in the middle and the long couch - love that couch! And the decor is great - lots of old copper pots and pans on shelves, stark lighting, solid wooden tables, very nice.
The food - Not mindblowing, but pretty good. I'll give it a 3/5. The piadinas - as good as ever! The appetizers and salads looked a lot more interesting than the entrees. The roasted beet salad was pretty good, as was the cheese plate (especially that super creamy stinky brie!). My lentil&tomato soup was clearly oversalted and the flavors did not really stand out. The roasted potatoes were disappointing too - some of them seemed too dry, though drenched in olive oil. Pupp liked his risotto (the zucchini base was an interesting twist), Vee thought the pork was pretty decent and Martin said the lasagna was passable (this coming from the guy who makes the best lasagna I've *ever* eaten in my life!).
The wine list looks pretty impressive, and the Barolo we ordered was delicious.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Eat Gratin, be happy!
So behind on my postings. *sigh*
So, I finally got to try out a recipe from the latest Jay Solomon book that I bought a couple of weeks ago (Taste of the Tropics) - I love, absolutely love this book! I started off wanting to make this squash and scallions gratin, but I had no squash! Or scallions! But I did have a ton of fresh asparagus :) And shallots :)
Asparagus and Shallots Gratin
=======================
1 bundle asparagus - chopped into 1' pieces
1 T olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced (yes, I went overboard, like always!)
4-6 shallots - chopped fine
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup milk
1/2 t dried thyme
1 t ground black pepper
1/4 t allspice
1/2 t sea salt
Heat oven to 350F.
Lightly saute the asparagus and shallots in olive oil, add spices and coconut milk and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. Add the milk and simmer for another 3-4 minutes.
Oooppppsss! Apparently, I needed breadcrumbs to get the crunchy consistency for the gratin. Hmm, let's use tortilla chips instead. So, I broke up a bunch of chips, tossed them into the veggie mixture, and poured it all into a casserole and let bake for 10-12 minutes.
Add a dash of hot sauce and some flatbread = *happy*
Origin (of original recipe :) ) : West Indies
So, I finally got to try out a recipe from the latest Jay Solomon book that I bought a couple of weeks ago (Taste of the Tropics) - I love, absolutely love this book! I started off wanting to make this squash and scallions gratin, but I had no squash! Or scallions! But I did have a ton of fresh asparagus :) And shallots :)
Asparagus and Shallots Gratin
=======================
1 bundle asparagus - chopped into 1' pieces
1 T olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced (yes, I went overboard, like always!)
4-6 shallots - chopped fine
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup milk
1/2 t dried thyme
1 t ground black pepper
1/4 t allspice
1/2 t sea salt
Heat oven to 350F.
Lightly saute the asparagus and shallots in olive oil, add spices and coconut milk and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. Add the milk and simmer for another 3-4 minutes.
Oooppppsss! Apparently, I needed breadcrumbs to get the crunchy consistency for the gratin. Hmm, let's use tortilla chips instead. So, I broke up a bunch of chips, tossed them into the veggie mixture, and poured it all into a casserole and let bake for 10-12 minutes.
Add a dash of hot sauce and some flatbread = *happy*
Origin (of original recipe :) ) : West Indies
Icon Grill - *ick*
Icon has a new mac'n'cheese appetizer - fried mac with a jalapeno queso dip. Woooo!!! Somehow, they just managed to make a bigger artery clogger than their regular mac'n'cheese :) It does taste yummy, but that was the beginning and end of the good food at Icon.
To start off, our waitress got our drinks all mixed up - strangely enough, she heard 'Orange Drop' as 'Bartender's Margarita' - we were quite puzzled when our drinks didn't show up in cocktail glasses, and even more stymied when they tasted of tequila!
The menu had an interesting sounding tuna entree - thinly sliced, seared ahi tuna with a wasabi vinaigrette based salad - sounds good? That's what I thought too. And I ordered it. My first seafood entree ever! *so* excited. Until the food appeared. Somehow, my tuna had transformed into this giant thickly sliced steak-like "thingy". Ok, fine, I'm not intimidated (yet!), I'll try it ... one mouthful ... *ick*. This tuna tasted like it had absorbed all the salt in the ocean and then some! And it tasted like leather. *bleh*. And that damn salad was replete with celery. *grr*. Our other entree was the rock shrimp penne - apparently quite passable, that was a relief.
Yes, we complained about it. Yes, they took it off the tab. But for something that gross, they should really be paying me for it!
To start off, our waitress got our drinks all mixed up - strangely enough, she heard 'Orange Drop' as 'Bartender's Margarita' - we were quite puzzled when our drinks didn't show up in cocktail glasses, and even more stymied when they tasted of tequila!
The menu had an interesting sounding tuna entree - thinly sliced, seared ahi tuna with a wasabi vinaigrette based salad - sounds good? That's what I thought too. And I ordered it. My first seafood entree ever! *so* excited. Until the food appeared. Somehow, my tuna had transformed into this giant thickly sliced steak-like "thingy". Ok, fine, I'm not intimidated (yet!), I'll try it ... one mouthful ... *ick*. This tuna tasted like it had absorbed all the salt in the ocean and then some! And it tasted like leather. *bleh*. And that damn salad was replete with celery. *grr*. Our other entree was the rock shrimp penne - apparently quite passable, that was a relief.
Yes, we complained about it. Yes, they took it off the tab. But for something that gross, they should really be paying me for it!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Flatbread Pizzas - a yummy snack!
Last week, I was craving pizza, but not the super greasy cheesy kind. I wanted the light flavorful kind I had eaten in Greece a few years ago. And I wanted it fast! :) And Trader Joe's helped me out here (I *love* that store!) with their mediterranean flatbread. I made this olive-garlic-tomato tapenade that I spread on the flatbread, loaded it up with sliced red onions, thinly sliced potatoes, olives and sprinkled it with this divine gouda laced with fennel. And baked it for about 8 minutes at 400F.
*drool*
*drool*
Monsoon - *yum*
We were craving pan-Asian food and decided to hit Monsoon last friday. And it made us *happy*, very *happy*.
We ordered this Pinot Noir from Andrew Rich Wines that totally knocked our socks off - we actually finished up the entire bottle in the restaurant and tottered out feeling quite blissful! Seems like WSJ liked it quite a bit too!
Monsoon is one of those restaurants where I have such a hard time deciding what I want to eat - the plethora of choice astounds me :) And now that I'm dabbling in seafood, it gets even harder! So, after much dithering, we had to go for my old faves - the crispy tofu with peppers and mushrooms (the caramelized onions were divine) as well as the green beans with kabocha squash. Ok, this was simply fabulous. The squash was *so* incredibly flavorful, I'm at a total loss for words to explain it. Well, pupp ate it :) And the halibut - Oh so good!!! It originally tasted a little bland, but dribbling a little soy sauce on it made a world of difference - the super flaky fish suddenly exploded with flavor! And the morning glory salad was so refreshing - *very* unique.
*drool*
We ordered this Pinot Noir from Andrew Rich Wines that totally knocked our socks off - we actually finished up the entire bottle in the restaurant and tottered out feeling quite blissful! Seems like WSJ liked it quite a bit too!
Monsoon is one of those restaurants where I have such a hard time deciding what I want to eat - the plethora of choice astounds me :) And now that I'm dabbling in seafood, it gets even harder! So, after much dithering, we had to go for my old faves - the crispy tofu with peppers and mushrooms (the caramelized onions were divine) as well as the green beans with kabocha squash. Ok, this was simply fabulous. The squash was *so* incredibly flavorful, I'm at a total loss for words to explain it. Well, pupp ate it :) And the halibut - Oh so good!!! It originally tasted a little bland, but dribbling a little soy sauce on it made a world of difference - the super flaky fish suddenly exploded with flavor! And the morning glory salad was so refreshing - *very* unique.
*drool*
Gipsy Kings - @ the Paramount
Finally, finally, we got to watch the Gipsy Kings live on saturday. We were really hoping that they would feature in the Chateau Ste Michelle summer concert line-up (which seems reasonably unexciting this year), but that was not to be. I've always liked the acoustics at the Paramount - admittedly, I've watched more shows and musicals there than concerts, but the sound plus the ambience (I loooovvve those fabulous ceilings!) always seemed to create a pleasant experience, so this actually seemed like a pretty good alternative. And once we got there (seated in the middle of the first balcony), we got quite excited about the show.
The instruments were awesome - amazing strumming at lightning speeds, incredible drums, even the keyboard guy was belting out some mean tunes! What was disappointing? The vocals! Somehow, it seemed like the vocal microphones didn't quite cut it and the usually resonant voices sounded quite muted and fuzzy. Quite a disappointment.
Still, it was still a really fun show. Those damn fire codes prevented us from dancing away in the open spaces in the balcony, but we still shook it as much as we could :) I absolutely love flamenco music, and I especially love GK - they've made the music more approachable and open and joyful. And yes, they did perform our faves: La Dona, Bamboleo, Volare, Bem Bem Maria, ... the works!
*happy* :)
The instruments were awesome - amazing strumming at lightning speeds, incredible drums, even the keyboard guy was belting out some mean tunes! What was disappointing? The vocals! Somehow, it seemed like the vocal microphones didn't quite cut it and the usually resonant voices sounded quite muted and fuzzy. Quite a disappointment.
Still, it was still a really fun show. Those damn fire codes prevented us from dancing away in the open spaces in the balcony, but we still shook it as much as we could :) I absolutely love flamenco music, and I especially love GK - they've made the music more approachable and open and joyful. And yes, they did perform our faves: La Dona, Bamboleo, Volare, Bem Bem Maria, ... the works!
*happy* :)
International Potluck Night
a.k.a. - Serious food orgy! :)
Waaaay overdue post! A few weeks ago, I think Autumn and Lisa came up with this idea of doing a potluck where we all cooked food from cuisines that we hadn't really cooked much from before. Such a great idea. So we planned it out, May 19th was the day - at Daria's place, perfect way to warm her new house (and take her cute kitchen apart! :))
This is how we did it: each person/couple wrote out a country on a scrap of paper and we then drew lots. Daria got Vietnam, T&A got Russia, C&L - Costa Rica, A&J - Indonesia, us - Japan. And Jeremy picked Switzerland for dessert (apparently his initial choice - Australia is not sweet-friendly! :) and we picked Italy.
It was fun! And super yummy! And we kind of ended up with a good assortment of food. We tried to replicate the famous Dark Army from Vij as the drink of the eve. It turned out pretty decent, but could be better.
Basic Recipe:
===========
A shot each of lemon-ginger juice, simple syrup, mango juice, lime juice. Muddle these up with 1-1.5 shots of amber rum. Serve on ice. Sprinkle with a pinch of freshly ground garam masala. *hic*!
We started off noshing on these yummy baked plantains with guacamole and a blackbean dip (Costa Rica). The Russian entree was beety borscht along with this dark rye-like bread (lame! I've already forgotten what it actually had!). The borscht was really flavorful and smooth. The Vietnamese salad was awesome - it had mangoes, it *had* to be awesome! :) The noodle salad was super yummy too - the spicy limey dressing was seriously tasty - I was ready to drink it up! The tilapia on a bed of rice/beans/oranges/veggies was really light and flavorful.
And we made sushi - our first attempt! Obviously, spicy tuna rolls (we couldn't really find any other sushi grade fish at Whole Foods!). The tuna was so tasty - almost melting in the mouth. We marinated it in a sauce of the Snappy Dragon spicy sauce (*so* good!) along with a little wasabi. After marinating for a few hours, we rolled it with scallions, avocados and some stealth wasabi. The rolls came out looking *okay*, they definitely got better as we rolled more. And Pupp's rolling was *way* better than mine! :) But it was fun, we loved it and we'll do it again!
Dessert was this great chocolate cake with a mop of frosting - very yummy! We made this Cassata alla Siciliana - it was a serious flop! *so* sad! Firstly, the pound cake from Whole Foods was awful - dense and lifeless. And we could not find any candied fruit, so we used chopped dried fruits - NOT the same. *bleh*. I'll have to rework this recipe sometime.
Anyway, Daria's house was well-warmed (and a minor mess!). *happy*
Waaaay overdue post! A few weeks ago, I think Autumn and Lisa came up with this idea of doing a potluck where we all cooked food from cuisines that we hadn't really cooked much from before. Such a great idea. So we planned it out, May 19th was the day - at Daria's place, perfect way to warm her new house (and take her cute kitchen apart! :))
This is how we did it: each person/couple wrote out a country on a scrap of paper and we then drew lots. Daria got Vietnam, T&A got Russia, C&L - Costa Rica, A&J - Indonesia, us - Japan. And Jeremy picked Switzerland for dessert (apparently his initial choice - Australia is not sweet-friendly! :) and we picked Italy.
It was fun! And super yummy! And we kind of ended up with a good assortment of food. We tried to replicate the famous Dark Army from Vij as the drink of the eve. It turned out pretty decent, but could be better.
Basic Recipe:
===========
A shot each of lemon-ginger juice, simple syrup, mango juice, lime juice. Muddle these up with 1-1.5 shots of amber rum. Serve on ice. Sprinkle with a pinch of freshly ground garam masala. *hic*!
We started off noshing on these yummy baked plantains with guacamole and a blackbean dip (Costa Rica). The Russian entree was beety borscht along with this dark rye-like bread (lame! I've already forgotten what it actually had!). The borscht was really flavorful and smooth. The Vietnamese salad was awesome - it had mangoes, it *had* to be awesome! :) The noodle salad was super yummy too - the spicy limey dressing was seriously tasty - I was ready to drink it up! The tilapia on a bed of rice/beans/oranges/veggies was really light and flavorful.
And we made sushi - our first attempt! Obviously, spicy tuna rolls (we couldn't really find any other sushi grade fish at Whole Foods!). The tuna was so tasty - almost melting in the mouth. We marinated it in a sauce of the Snappy Dragon spicy sauce (*so* good!) along with a little wasabi. After marinating for a few hours, we rolled it with scallions, avocados and some stealth wasabi. The rolls came out looking *okay*, they definitely got better as we rolled more. And Pupp's rolling was *way* better than mine! :) But it was fun, we loved it and we'll do it again!
Dessert was this great chocolate cake with a mop of frosting - very yummy! We made this Cassata alla Siciliana - it was a serious flop! *so* sad! Firstly, the pound cake from Whole Foods was awful - dense and lifeless. And we could not find any candied fruit, so we used chopped dried fruits - NOT the same. *bleh*. I'll have to rework this recipe sometime.
Anyway, Daria's house was well-warmed (and a minor mess!). *happy*
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