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:
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.
Today, housebound. I’ll be obsessed with this Brandywine for a while yet.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.)
Last month, I took my first Virgin America flight. Tonight, I returned to SeaTac to fly to SFO for Blogher Food 2009. I wish this flight went as uneventful, sadly there were hydraulics issues. The crew on the plane handled it well and the mood wasn’t bad, just delayed.
After hours on the plane, we got off to hang out at the gate for a few more hours. Eventually, 5 hours later than anticipated, I arrived in San Francisco. My night and plans were completely shot, but I wasn’t livid until Virgin America agents Claudio and Lani in San Francisco completely fumbled the ground transportation situation and didn’t live up to Virgin’s alleged service credo. The more they talked, the worse it got. Promises earlier in the conversation completely unraveled by delivery time.
My favorite potshot from Lani to a fellow passenger, in response to denying a request for a cab voucher (BART was shut down, it was 1:30 AM):
“Hey, be grateful we got you here alive.”
Stay classy, Lani and Claudio!
One of my favorite discoveries of the year: using my lunch hour to its fullest, scheduling with friends a few times a week. Also a fave: spending time with Ian, Best Roommate of All Time. Y’all already know how much I love Marination Mobile’s Wednesdays in Fremont. Lucky me, Ian was available for lunch today, so off we went.
I was ready to dial it in and just order my usual (tacos), then I noticed the Special: Spicy Pork Sandwich. Y’all. Y’all. Y’aaaaaall. SO good. I loved it even more than any of Paseo’s offerings which are fightin’ words around these parts. If you see it on the menu, you HAVE to get it. It’s spicy, with a little kick of ginger, jalapeno, and held together perfectly with Columbia City bread. The bread makes it all work.
Tonight is a final dinner with the Other Rachel, before she takes off to live in Japan. She’s one of the Muffin Top Trio. Let’s not focus on her leaving. Let’s think of my favorite sandwich of all time.
I went to Uncorked at the new Four Seasons downtown – fabulous food, gratis.
I remembered on my way home that the Luminata Lantern Festival was happening in Greenlake. I got there after dark.
Relocated over the weekend. It’s only for a month in temp digs, so I’m holding my breath. Hope I don’t pass out.
So many adventures. An all day food photography conference (Friday), another class the next day that turned into an all-day affair, including a photoshoot (Saturday), and Return to DimSumCouver (Sunday) – a whirlwind 18-hour food tour. (I am just now realizing I never wrote about August’s DimSumCouver trip. For shame.)
I’ll post the better pictures soon after they’re released as hostages on my memory cards.
But first, sleep.
On my commute home, up Stone Way, I spotted this character.
I met up with Cynthia at the Kingfish Cafe. I’ve been craving perfect fried chicken for months. This wasn’t it as it was missing some jzhuzh, but a decent effort. We capped dinner with Strawberry Shortcake (Mr. T warned me that alone would be dinner enough) and C had Red Velvet. The leftovers will last the week.
Spoon in the back, for scale. Sorta.
Both great desserts, but bread pudding’s not gonna be there for at least two more weeks. FYI.
Wheelson and Artgirl had a housewarming today. Believe it or not, my first time on Beacon Hill, home of Amazon. I love their new place. It’s spacious & light-filled & full of cool things they’ve gathered along the way.
Later, we watched Mad Men with friends. I love comparing notes. This week’s episode’s also deconstructed on Sepinwall’s here: Mad Men, The Fog: Waiting for my Real Life to Begin. This season has been seemingly slower-paced…thanks to Sepinwall, I figure out so much more meaning in the stretches.
