I hope you read that title with an appropriately thick French accent, as I'd intended. Lay am-behr-gehr. It makes a difference. Because this isn't about the all-American hamburger we all know and love, instead a Gallic take on our Yankee icon. It really had never crossed my radar in all the [...]
Having had a fabulous trip to Vancouver, BC earlier this year, which included a cocktail or two (plus an amazing dinner) at Yew in the Four Seasons Hotel, it grabbed my attention to read about the Olympics-themed cocktails recently unveiled for the restaurant. The Games will be starting in 127 days, and [...]
Sometimes I presume that everyone does all the same little tricks in the kitchen that help make our cooking lives easier and more efficient. Like laying down a dampened paper towel under a cutting board to keep it from slipping around on the counter (though my no-skid KitchenAid cutting board makes [...]
Sure. The definition of "splurge" has changed for many of us in recent months. But still there are, typically, two flavors of dining out. One: the casual "let's go grab a bite" occasions or getting together with friends at a favorite spot. And two, those dinners out for which there's prior planning, scouring [...]
I was chatting with the butcher at my neighborhood grocery store about lamb on a recent visit. I wanted to do a simple braise-stew but time was short, didn't want to fiddle with trimming shoulder (blade) meat from the bone, nor rely on leaner leg steaks that are less unctuous for braising. He [...]
Which presumes I'll actually get to the Part Two portion at some point.... I'll do my best. But with a quiet Saturday morning sitting in my lovely large room at Inn at Laurel Point in Victoria, with the cry of seagulls and hum of float planes outside, I wanted to get [...]
What a phenomenal Saturday morning it was yesterday. It was such an honor to be asked to judge the Ready Set Go...Cook (friendly) competition at the University District Farmers Market, an annual affair that pits two Seattle chefs against each other using their pick of items from market vendors. My [...]
It was going to be a busy couple of days this past weekend and I was determined to not try to do it all myself. Our annual summer party sees a good crowd come to the house, but I'm also in prime training for the Breast Cancer 3-Day in a month's [...]
It was the perfect refuge for a hot summer's evening. Eight of us gathered on the cool, shaded garden patio of Sambar in Ballard for drinks, some snacks and some wonderful quality time catching up with friends. Few places make me quite so happy, eating and drinking so well in [...]
While driving through McMinnville, Oregon earlier this week, a sweltering 100+ temp day, my friend pulled into a local drive-in to get a milkshake. He opted for fresh peach, his son picked raspberry, while I tried to be good and forgo the indulgence. Even when the cheery guy on the [...]