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about Seattle

Tea Party, Seattle Style

My favorite: Eden Rose Black Tea
Today: tea party at Viv’s! This was my favorite – the Eden Rose. Rumor has it, it’s available at Williams Sonoma.

Trio of Parisian tea
Like other gatherings at Viv’s, the food was amazing. Jenifer‘s quince handpies, Lorna‘s chocolate chip cookies, Alice‘s chocolate cookies, Lorraine‘s bread pudding, Jenifer’s southern grits, Valentina‘s Venezuelan cheese pastries, Kimberly‘s pear & chocolate jam, Jeanne‘s cake, an array of tea and much more I’m forgetting.

My cheese plate offering
Click through to flickr to see each item labeled.

Tonight: book club discussion at Vanessa‘s. October’s selection: Flowers in the Attic. As I’ve said elsewhere, V.C. Andrews could teach Stephanie Meyer a thing or five about trashy, crack fiction.

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about Seattle

And so it begins

NoKingCo
The monsoon hit Seattle this afternoon & cleared up as we drove north for Arlington, for Mr. T’s family Oktoberfest.

Later, we attended Ms. Astruc‘s cocktail party. I may have scared her (or not) by noting it begins tonight – from here to New Year’s, the festive season’s begun.

At Ms. Astruc’s, we met her neighbor who is on a curling team with Mr. T’s parents. Small world.

Enjoy the Oktoberfest Lederhosen apron:
Fam Oktoberfest

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about Seattle

Staged

Day Before Open House
Came home from a going away party, followed by a separate Neiman Marcus party-reception-thingy to find that neighbors are selling their Cape Cod. They were the first we met on our street. Really, they’ve been gone for a year, renting to another couple we never really met. The renters had a Jack Russell Terrier, drove Hondas and left as quietly as they arrived.

The house is staged for the weekend’s open houses.

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about Seattle

More Fall

Backyard
Today, housebound. I’ll be obsessed with this Brandywine for a while yet.

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about Seattle

Geek of the Week

Screenshot of Geek of the Week interview in the P-I
Geek of the Week interview in the P-I

Oh hey, I didn’t see you there before.

My Geek of the Week interview in the Seattle P-I was published last night to run today, but the inbox exploded this morning. And then some PMs at work passed it around so now you’re all here! Hello there. How’s it going? Hi.

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about Seattle

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest
Tonight, we had an Oktoberfest-themed dinner downtown, with a Schnapps tasting. Mr. T got the beer pairing with dinner. Reportedly, this was a smoky one.

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about Seattle

Finally FoodSnap

FoodSnap - Wink
Today was dull & grey. Perfect for catching up on projects.

Tonight, I finally pulled together my FoodSnap images to share. I spent so much time organizing I’m too spent to tell more stories, ha! FoodSnap took place on September 18 at the Georgetown Studios. It was an all-day conference with training in the morning, a great lunch, and an afternoon of practice. The next day, some of us had an encore at Rover’s, learning to take pictures inside restaurants. Afterward, a trio of us accompanied Lou to his working shoot at Olivar’s, where he taught us how to use the strobist equipment.

Here are my pictures from the day, in fancy pictobrowser format.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

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about Seattle

Red Beans ‘n Rice Day

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
Now that the weather’s turned, more time for cooking. Today: Red Beans and Rice. Mr. T tilled down the garden and planted fava as the winter cover crop. (Joke about pairing with Chianti excised.) I made jalapeno cheddar cornbread, too.
Fava Cover

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about Seattle

Greenwood & Gorgeous George’s

Greenwood's Fabled Unicorn
We started to head to today’s Mobile Chowdown, but preliminary reports indicated SF Street Food Fair levels of popularity (and a bit of a cluster). We turned around halfway there, and rerouted to Gorgeous George’s, a Mediterranean place we’d heard of soon after our May trip to Greece. It was ok. I prefer Georgia’s for this hood. But the owner was great!

I approve of their signage though:
Gorgeous George's

Categories
at home

Quiet Night

Coming Down Soon
Tonight, I’m relieved we have no plans. Eating down the fridge + The Office’s Wedding episodes on hulu = greatly welcomed after weeks of activities and travel.

Tomorrow, Mr. T tells me the garden gets tilled for cover crops. I caught the evening light of these for the last time.

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about Seattle

Rubik’s Cube of Belltown

Rubik's Bustop
Mr. T and I were at a friends-and-family night at a restaurant opening in Belltown next week. We mulled taking a bus home, but One Bus Away indicated a substantial wait…we went for the nearest cab stand. But not before I got a shot of this guy with his Rubik’s Cube.

Our cheese and dessert course at Ventana:
Cheese PlateMascarpone Cake with Limoncello

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about Seattle

Southern Fried Chicken for Sukkot

Fried Chicken
A few weeks ago, Debi let on her fried chicken recipe was perfect. Tonight, she proved it. And! Then! She sent me home with leftovers. I am so happy. Mr. T couldn’t make it to our dinner in time and I haven’t even let on yet to Mr. T that I have them. MAYBE I WON’T.

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about Seattle

The Seattle Paramount Update

Seattle Paramount's Re-signage
I was downtown at lunchtime today and witnessed workmen lowering signage at Seattle’s Paramount. I was alarmed.

Upon consulting Uncle Google, it turns out they’re trading the old sign with a more energy-efficient model.

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about Seattle

Back to Seattle’s Fall

Fall
Today was back to the usual. At dusk, tested out a new lens Mr. T got me while I was away. The tree we planted last year will shed soon.

The Baron’s waiting (im)patiently for his supper:
Suppatime

One thing I’ve learned from all the photography in the last few years — having darker cabinets, or a dining room in brick red is murder on getting a good exposure.

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about America

Staying Put

Capitol Lanterns

Tomorrow night, I fly back to Seattle. Today, I reconnected with two old friends. One, I hadn’t seen in 15 years since I moved to Provo, UT. C & I met in the afternoon. The other I’d seen sooner, maybe 7 years ago. I spent Saturday evening with Jean and her friends. Both have so much meaning in my past, I could tell stories for hours. I didn’t take their pictures though. Maybe next time. It didn’t feel necessary in the moment; I’m not sure why.

Before I saw them, we started the day at Another Broken Egg. This is the 2nd outpost of a place east of Baton Rouge, in Mandeville. My mom’s talked up this place for the last year and now I know why. The Redfish Benedict is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in Baton Rouge; maybe one of the best things I’ve eaten for breakfast. The dish incorporated pan-seared redfish on french toast, with two poached eggs covered in andouille hollandaise sauce. I hesitated on ordering — wasn’t I trying to avoid heavy sauces after a Summer of gastronomic excess?

Well, after consulting with the waiter and even considering their Crabcakes Cavallo, I went for the redfish over the crab (seemingly similar, but replace the redfish with shrimp and crab cakes). It’s one of the most rewarding decisions I made all trip. This is another place I’m taking Mr. T the next time we visit. Address info at the bottom of this entry.

Capitol Lanterns

Then I was at the Capitol again while my mom had really, truly, finally tied up all the loose ends. I spent some time wandering the halls at the Capitol, taking pictures of the art deco lanterns in the Senate, House, and back hallways.

Capitol Lantern

In the evening with Jean, we helped her friends organize their grandmother’s recipes to make a cookbook for Christmas. Since I love vintage, community-driven cookbooks like a fat kid loves cake (& uh, me too!), I was thrilled to participate. We deciphered the recipes — many didn’t have titles. We sorted. And finally, we designed layouts to preserve recipe scraps and the handwriting. I hope I see the final product someday, in some form.

figs and strawberries
one of the retro recipes

Another Broken Egg Cafe (Old Hammond Highway) on Urbanspoon

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about America

The Next Chapter

Roberto's River Road
Today was my mom’s last official day of work, ever. Before I went to visit pick her up at the end of the day, I went to lunch at Roberto’s River Road which is surprise! on River Road, along the Mississippi, southeast of Baton Rouge. It’s officially in St. Gabriel, but Sunshine and Plaquemine both seem to like to make claim on it.

I had stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon, deep-fried. It was awesome, but what caught my attention was the side of corn. I’m recreating that at home. Also, I finally had “Sensation Salad.” I say finally as I’ve since learned that it’s a Baton Rouge classic but you could’ve fooled me as I never heard of it. (A twist on a Caesar. I’d share a pic, but it ain’t purdy.) I’m bringing Mr. T back at Christmas the holidays. I’ve already got a few dishes lined up. They’re open for lunchtime and dinnertime, but closed every Sunday and Monday.

St. Gabriel
Near Roberto’s — I’ve wanted to stop to take pictures of this decommissioned General Store for years

I went back downtown. While I waited for my mom again, I walked around some more. The capitol guards struck up conversations about digital cameras. I was impressed how they seemed to know more about my camera than I did.
Washington, all the way up the steps
Washington’s step at the capitol

Then I found Strands Café, thanks to a tip from Eliza. I ordered a prosciutto & provolone croissant, a chocolate croissant, and a lemon meringue tart to try over the weekend. (All were classically great.) I ordered an Iced Orinoco Mocha for the moment. Strands is a gem, a coffeeshop with great pastries and exquisite chocolates. I got to talking with the owner as they were winding down. She grew up in Baton Rouge, graduated from my high school, moved away, spent time at Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney, and came back last year to open her place. If I lived here, I’d visit all the time.

Once my mom was ready, we headed home to get ready for her final dinner with her colleagues. We went to a hibachi grill (akin to Benihana) and I gotta say, I had a great time.

Sidebar: I kept hearing radio commercials for this haunted house and saw it on our way. I wish it fit into my schedule this trip.

13th Gate
(I kept the underexposed image for the creepier effect.)

Strands cafe on Urbanspoon

Roberto's River Road Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Categories
about America

At the Capitol

State Capitol
I went with my mom in the afternoon to attend a colleague’s retirement party. (My mom is also retiring this week.) Wandered the grounds around her work a bit.

My mom kept all the postcards I sent her from trips I’ve taken in the last five years on her office wall. If you click through to Flickr, I labeled each card’s location.
Tales of Trips Past

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about America

Seattle to Minneapolis to New Orleans

Wisdom on Fugitives at MSP
Early this morning, I flew out of Seattle to get to New Orleans via Minneapolis. My first time in the land of ten thousand lakes, long overdue.

It was my favorite kind of flight: uneventful. I worried heading to the airport since I couldn’t figure out which airline would actually be my carrier. The Alaska/NWA/Delta info was ambiguous. I couldn’t get pre-assigned seats. Turned out flights weren’t full and I scored aisles and half empty rows.

After I arrived, we stopped for dinner in Ascension Parish at Sno’s. I went for the stuffed softshell crab.
Sno's

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about Seattle

“Will You Love Me As Much As My Owner?”

"Will you love me as much as my owner?"
After work, I walked to Brouwer’s to meet up with Mr. T and his soon-to-be-former teammates (he’s staying put mostly, just migrating). I spotted this along the way. I love this convertible! I already have the Karmann Ghia, though, and that’s enough of the antiques for our household.

If you’d like to get it, the digits are here.

I’m packing to head to Louisiana in the early hours and wondering if the sun will be out by the time I leave for Sea-Tac.

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about Seattle

Summer’s Gone

When Good Brocc Goes Bad
Time to till down the garden. This is our Broccoli, spent and overgrown.

(Yeah, when the Blogher pics goes up, I’ll link on the latest entry.)