yes

Yes

It could happen any time, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen.
Or sunshine, love, salvation.

It could, you know. That's why we wake
and look out - no guarantees
in this life.

But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon
like evening.

-William Stafford


Some blossoms and a pretty poem, just because.

Happy Thursday.

paris me manque

Ho hum. Feeling nostalgic for Paris today.

Photo: OhHappyDay

marion cunningham's yeast raised waffles

As I've mentioned before, I love breakfast. In particular, I love waffles. I love the way they taste and I also love saying the word "waffle" so it's really just a great thing all around. But the thing is, I really only like homemade waffles. I've found that waffles sold at breakfast establishments are often too crunchy in texture and lack in any real flavor. Since I do take breakfast seriously, I usually try to avoid such disappointments by ordering other things. So long story short, waffles and I don't cross paths very often.

Until now. Now, I am now the proud owner of a Chef's Choice WafflePro (!) and am thus free to make and eat waffles whenever I want. 

Like this morning. This morning, I made Marion Cunningham's yeast-raised waffles* and they were delicious.

You start the night before by preparing the batter and then letting it sit out overnight to rise. 

Then in the morning, you wake up, make some coffee.

Then add eggs and some baking soda to the batter and pour said batter onto the waffle iron.

If, unlike me, you are intelligent, you will refrain from overfilling the waffle maker to the extent that it overflows and pours liquid all down the sides onto the counter and sends you running from the kitchen shrieking for help. Just saying.

And then poof! Waffles!

And, boy, are they tasty. Light as a feather and crisp around the edges. Pre-syrup, they are almost more savory than sweet, sort of the way a croissant is, and I can tell you from experience that it is possible for even a smallish eater to put quite a few of them away in a single sitting. 

*Here is the recipe, should you be curious.

a little light entertainment

Since I spent most of the early part of this week bedridden, I somehow made it to Wednesday morning without even a glimpse at my weekly planner. So Wednesday morning I discovered, with some surprise, that I was going to a Foster the People show that evening at the Independent.

And the show was good.

A band called the Steel Wells opened, and I quite liked them. The guy who played the tambourine (and drums. and a few other instruments I couldn't identify) looked just like Justin Long. They were followed by another band, Grouplove, that I found tolerable, and finally by Foster the People. They took their sweet time coming onstage and by the By the time Foster the People came onstage I was feeling sleepy and a little bit grouchy at being up past my bedtime (I'm old) but the songs were irresistably catchy and we got to hear "Pumped up Kicks."


A good way to spend a rainy evening in the neighborhood.

seafood heaven

On our last night in Seattle, we cooked a feast.

Actually, I shouldn't say "we" since my only contribution to the preparation of the meal was washing swiss chard and then sitting in the corner of the kitchen with a glass of wine. But a feast was prepared. And it was amazing.

And the result.

Seafood heaven. 

four days in seattle

We are officially back from Seattle and it was an absolutely splendid trip. But on Monday morning I woke up sick as a dog with a dreadful case of the stomach flu- so I've spent the last few days in bed recuperating. All I can say is thank goodness for Gatorade. And hot water bottles. And chicken flavored ramen noodles. 

Anyway. About Seattle.

We flew in on Wednesday night after work, rented a car and drove straight to the Melrose Market for dinner at the absurdly charming Sitka & Spruce. Sheep's milk feta with stinging nettles, lamb merguez with yogurt, poached chicken with saffron.... Mmm.

Afterwards, we drove to the Columbia City neighborhood to meet Daniel's friends Evan and Marissa who had very graciously offered to host us during our trip. They have a dog. Her name is Lola. She is a good girl.

{Lola}

I wanted to steal her and take her home with us.

We spent our first night staying up late, drinking beer and talking, happy to be in Seattle and on vacation.


The next morning dawned clear and pleasant and we drove out to the Hi Spot to visit Marissa at work and binge on cinnamon roles, eggs, cups of coffee and french toast. After breakfast, Evan spent some time touring us around downtown. Of course, we saw Pike Place Market

{Pike Place Market}

Then we drove over to the Capitol Hill neighborhood for a cup of coffee and some continued neighborhood exploration.

{latte @caffe vita}

 Evan had to go to work, so Daniel and I went home to meet Marissa and Lola for a walk in Seward Park. Lola swam in the lake and we took turns throwing her sticks. I really want a dog.


On Friday, we got up (relatively) early and we stopped for breakfast at the Colombia City Bakery, which was heartstoppingly good. Then we drove to Deception Pass. 

We hiked around and spied on bald eagles.

We walked down to the pebbly beaches, through piles of driftwood. We could see to Canada.

In the evening, we took a ferry boat home and then hurried out to dinner at the Corson Building in Georgetown. The restaurant was unspeakably lovely, with soft lighting from Edison bulbs, exposed brick, and big farm tables for communal dining. Every detail was just so, and it was a wonderful dinner after a full day.

On Sunday we fished. Well, some of us fished. I mostly just sat on a pier and drank beer and soaked up some unexpected sun. I also examined various types of bait that Marissa had in her tackle-box.

No fishies were caught, but everyone had a very nice time in the attempt. And we consoled ourselves by buying an obscene amount of seafood and cooking a decadent seafood feast for dinner.

On Sunday, we drove out to Ballard for the farmers market. We stopped by Gasworks Park.

{Gasworks park}

We walked through the farmers market and met up with my friend from college, Bri, and her fiance Robert. We breakfasted on such delicacies as chicken fried chicken and biscuits with gravy at Hattie's Hat and then went for bloody marys at King's hardware.

{margaritas @ King's Hardware}

Because we still hadn't eaten quite enough, Bri took us to Cupcake Royale. Holy buttercream.

{chocolate & vanilla}

I got vanilla. Daniel got chocolate.

Bri got bacon whiskey maple, and I took paparazzi shots of her eating.

{Bri}

Oh my, it was hard to leave Seattle. We are already looking at tickets to go back in August. 

Sitka & Spruce

1531 Melrose Ave. E
Seattle, Wa 98122

The Hi Spot

1410 34th Ave.

Seattle, Wa

Columbia City Bakery

4865 Rainier S.

Seattle, WA 98118

The Corson Building

5609 Corson Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98108

Hattie's Hat

5231 Ballard Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107

King's Hardware

5225 Ballard Avenue Northwest
Seattle, WA 98107

Cupcake Royale

1111 E Pike St
Seattle, WA 98122

off to seattle

For Daniel's birthday, I gave him a trip to Seattle. I get to go, too, so it was really also a present to myself and I'm very excited about it. When I was still in college, I went to the Sasquatch music festival at the Gorge, a few hours drive from Seattle- but I never got a chance to really see Seattle proper. So this is pretty much a brand new, fresh experience.

Anyway, we'll be spending several days there, visiting friends, eating lots of delicious food (I have my sights set on dinner here and here), walking around in the rain, and making a little trip to the Hoh rain forest. Also, lots of reading, coffee-drinking, and general relaxation. We'll be back Sunday, so until then, I say adios.