Celebrate Summer – with a Food Donation
Many people don’t realize that summer is one of the hardest times for many families in our area. Nearly 40% of children receive free or reduced-fee meals while they are at school. When summer hits they no longer have access to those resources. You can help out by making a donation to Northwest Harvest over the summer.
Bartell Drugs is currently collecting food at all of their store locations and will continue with that program through this Sunday, June 12.
And King 5 will be at several local malls tomorrow accepting both food and cash donations. To make it as easy as possible you can even donate a quick $10 by texting HOMETEAM to 85944. It’s pretty amazing what Northwest Harvest can do with $10.
For a list of donation locations and all the details on King 5’s event check out this page.
Dahlia Workshop
As more business moves into the South Lake Union neighborhood services are also starting to move in. The Dahlia Workshop is one of the restaurants that has recently opened. It has a bit of a split personality – but I mean that in a good way. In the morning they serve breakfast biscuits, at lunch they add a soup and salad option. In the afternoon they morph into a little snack bar with a (mini) biscuit happy hour, various savory snacks and serve wine and beer. They are working on upgrading to a full liquor license and when that happens (maybe later this summer?) expect to see more changes as they expand their evening offerings.
In the meantime, their morning biscuits are delicious! My favorite combines workshop ham, an egg, a little cheddar cheese and an amazing apple mustard. And I keep thinking I should go for the basic biscuit, butter and jam. You can’t be in a huge hurry – this isn’t fast food – but you can pretty easily get in and out in 15 to 20 minutes, including your eating time. There are a few tables inside and it’s never been crowded when I’ve visited. Most of the biscuit sandwiches are also suitable “to go”. The two with gravy are probably best eaten on site, however.
Now that warm weather is headed our way, this would be a nice place to sit at one of the outdoor tables and start the day with biscuits and sunshine.
Dahlia Workshop
401 Westlake Avenue (at Harrison)
South Lake Union
Seattle
206.436.0050
Gnocchi di Semolino alla Romana
This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous here in Seattle. Finally we had a little taste of the spring weather we’ve all been craving! It was especially welcome since there were plenty of events over the weekend that were much better when held outside.
Sunday night was my wine tasting club’s 18th gathering. Wines from Lazio (the region of Rome), Molise and Abruzzo were on the schedule. I researched several Italian cookbooks looking for recipes from the same regions as the wine. I came up with several things that were pretty good but one dish was far and away everyone’s favorite – a version of gnocchi made from semolina.
I chose it because it’s a typical Roman dish and because it seemed easier to make than potato gnocchi – always a good thing when you are cooking for a party, even a small one. While it is easier in many ways, this dish like many others makes me really admire those little Italian nonnas and their strength. One step of the recipe calls for stirring the semolina with the milk for ten minutes over heat. The semolina gets thick fast and it takes some muscle to keep the spoon moving for ten minutes!
The results were well worth the effort, though. These gnocchi are a little crispy on the outside but light and fluffy on the inside. They have a great buttery, cheese flavor. Everyone thought they paired well with all the wines we tasted. I suspect it was more that the gnocchi are so good that you don’t care what wine you are drinking with them! Since my group begged for the recipe I decided I’d better get it posted on the blog sooner than later, so here it is.
Read more…
Dry Soda: Savor the Flavor Tour
I first became aware of Dry Soda when they were a young company somewhere late in 2005 or 2006. They have a great concept of creating non-sweet (hence “dry”) sodas that appeal to an adult audience, yet do not rule out kid-appeal. The sodas are clean and refreshing. Dry Sodas are nice alternatives for non-drinking friends and are also good as mixers. Love that versatility!
As I’ve followed the company over the years I’ve also noticed their great community support. They contribute sodas to one of my favorite organizations, Farestart; I’ve enjoyed their sodas at culinary events around town; and I often see thank-yous from organizations where Dry Soda provided beverages for an event.
(Re) Learning to Make Pie
It’s amazing how a simple change or two can sometimes have such a big impact. I guess this goes for many things in life but right now I’m talking pie. Delicious pie.
A couple of weeks ago I attended an Art of the Pie class taught by Kate McDermott. I’ve long known about Kate’s reputation as the pie-maker supreme but had never had a chance to test or taste her pies for myself. So a recent Friday night found me and a couple of others assembling in Kate’s home for our chance to experience it all.
Kate welcomes you to her home, shows you around a bit and then it’s up to you to settle in and make yourself at home. Classes are very small – no more than four people – and the classroom is her kitchen with just enough room for each student to have a little counter space of their own. But first, the class gathers around a little table as Kate starts by talking through the steps and recipe you will follow. Then each person moves to their personal space and begins making crust with Kate watching, helping, answering questions and generally making sure you’re getting the feel of it.
Once the dough is made and resting in the fridge it’s on to the filling, in our case one of my favorites, rhubarb! Next you roll out the bottom crust and place it in the pie plate, add the filling, place the top crust on the pie and then it’s time to cut and seal the edges. Kate demonstrates several options but you could also come up with your own idea, if you like. Once the final touches are in place and the pies placed in the oven the class sits down to share a glass of sparkling wine and a pie that Kate made earlier in the day.
Seattle Restaurant Week
We are part way into Seattle Restaurant week – which is actually two weeks long. There are 150 participating restaurants serving 3-course dinners for $28. Some are also serving 3-course lunches for $15.
Many have their menus posted on NWSource, the primary sponsor of the event.
You can see the full list of restaurants here, and if you click on the restaurant name to go to their NWSource page you can check for the menu. Just remember that menus are subject to change so what you see listed may not be available during your visit.
Check the site for all other details and disclosures.
Grilled Cheese, Please!
I did not pay a fee to attend the event covered in this post and received a copy of the cookbook at the event. Please see my Review Policy page for more information.
April is National Grilled Cheese month. I don’t know how or why it is. A quick web search shows lots of blogs and periodicals claiming it so but no source for this information. However, considering that no harm can be done by inaccurately reporting this information, I’m going with it! I love grilled cheese sandwiches and since I often work from my home office they are a lunchtime staple for me. Sometimes I make the very basic cheddar on sandwich bread – this toasty, buttery, cheesy palate-pleaser is a standard for good reason. But, on a regular basis, I mix it up with different cheese or cheese combinations; or add a little something like herbs or tomato or charcuterie or grilled onions to bring additional flavor; use different breads; and even cook it different ways. It’s hard to go wrong with a grilled cheese sandwich.
Last night I was lucky enough to attend a gathering hosted by Myra (aka Viv or Seattle Bon Vivant) featuring Laura Werlin. Laura spoke to the small group about her latest cookbook, Grilled Cheese, Please! In addition to this book, Laura is the author of four other books about cheese. I don’t know how I’ve missed them, especially since this is her second grilled cheese cookbook. But I’m glad I’ve found her work now.
Spring will not be denied
Despite our unseasonably cool and wet weather, some things in my garden are moving forward as planned. Most of the perennial herbs have been actively growing for several weeks. Among these the chives are always the earliest, it seems, and soon they will be flowering if I don’t keep them trimmed.
I was especially surprised to see how well the rhubarb is doing, though. In fact, it seems it’s doing better this year than it has others. It is a cool weather crop so maybe our weather is agreeing with it. More likely it’s just becoming more established and stronger as I’ve really been nurturing it with lots of compost the last couple years. Whatever the case, I’m looking forward to that first pie or tart!
Red White Unite!
On Wednesday, April 6th several local restaurants will donate at least 10% of their total sales to Peace Winds America for Japan disaster relief and recovery.
By dining at one of the participating restaurants you can easily support the cause while enjoying time out with friends and family.
In fact, you can it make it a twofer by selecting a lunch location that is also supporting the cause!
You can find a full list of participating restaurants on the site.
Tuscan Vegetable Soup
This weekend I opened another of my Soup Swap soups and have enjoyed it the last few days. I love the rich tomato taste in this one. And the color from the tomatoes, zucchini and carrots warms the soul. You could easily make this soup suitable for a vegetarian meal by replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock. Or you could go the other way and add leftover (cooked) chicken to make it a little bit heartier. I had extra grilled lamb steak from a previous night’s dinner and added it for a nice burst of flavor. Since the lamb had been simply prepared with olive oil, garlic and rosemary the flavors complemented those already in the soup.
I still have a few containers of soup in the freezer but not too many. I’ve really loved opening these special packages over the last few weeks and think I’ll plan another event for the fall.
Culinary Fool 