little ms foodie

Very late getting home tonight as we needed to stop at Crate and Barrel for some new kitchen gadgets. They will be used later this week. Blogging is a great excuse for shopping I've found! Regarding Salumi, let me just say that it is GREAT!! Anyone who visits Seattle need only to mention that they'd like to go to Salumi and the local chapter will all volunteer to take you. Armandino even smiled when I told him it was for eGullet and said "those people like to have a good time!"

I should have mentioned a bit more about the sandwiches. Salumi makes them with a swipe of garlic , then radiccio and onions on Dayne's. The cotecchino had the most amazing sutle flavors of vanilla! They say this is a traditional product of Emilia Romagna in Northern Italy. It's only on their menu from Nov until March. The porchetta also had the garlic swipe. then onions and peppars. It is such a huge and messy sandwich that I end up eating most of it with a fork. And really Dayne had half as it is so big! I normally get the lamb proscuitto but they were out

reesek, I'll take some photos tonight of our old and dreary kitchen. Really it is an eyesore in the worst way!! Susan and Russ... THANK YOU! It is obviously very hard to be following your fantastic blog! You guys are really an asset to this site. Wendy

Yeah, like what's between thighs and breakfast???? ← Haha!! You guys are BAD!!!!! ok, maybe.... MAYBE I'll post a picture of it when I get home tonight. I don't know, it's kindof lude! Keep in mind he took the offer off the table when he met my husband later. Even though I said Dayne was a great sous chef! Bad, bad, eGulleters!!

Thanks Dejah for the kind words! Now please be aware that these are SPECIAL K and RED BERRIES. I can't be responsible for any other Kelloggs products, this is the one we eat!

For those of you who know and love Mario Batali (as I do!), meet his father's deli Salumi!! We love Salumi!! It is only open Tues- Fri from 11 till 3pm. Salumi is located in an area called Pioneer Square, lucky for me I work in the same area. Today was gnocci Tuesday! Their aunt makes the gnocci in the front window of the shop! Inside is very small and skinny. You line up (many times the line is out the door) and wait to give your order. Salumi cures all their own meats. You can sign up to take a class in making prociutto too. I think at least one of the PNW eGullet members is doing this. There is a communal table for sitting and 2 smaller bistro tables, that's it. Many people take theirs to go but I like to wait it out for a seat! Porchetta sandwich for me and a glass of wine Cotecchino sandwich for Dayne the order counter, cashier and line as viewed from the communal table. The man himself! Armandino Batali (in red) posing for the eGullet site. He is quite a character! Today they had us sit and eat while they finished our order (I had some salami sliced so I could take it home and enjoy it throughout the week), then settle up as I was leaving. Very honor system. I love Salumi and I know that Seattle has a very fond place in their heart for the Batali's!

MsRamsey!!! SSSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!

It was such a fun night, and great to meet more of you! Thank you for such great dining company. I've posted a bit about it here: Blog

Once I get to my office in the morning I drink tea. Usually Twinings Earl Grey with milk. I get teased at work for having a dirty mug all the time. I say it just keeps people from using my cup, and it adds protein I'm sure! So I mentioned that we had a really fun outing last night. As many of you know Anthony Bourdain is on his book tour and a group of us from the PNW/SEA chapter went to the dinner. To say it was fun would be a total understatement!! It was held at a restaurant called Brasa. Chef Tamara Murphy, who is well known in Seattle, owns it and was in the kitchen cooking dishes out of the Les Halles Cookbook. There were 20 of us at the table. It was such a fun party! I would have taken the camera had I known I would be blogging but I only found out yesterday! The dinner started off with glasses of sparkling wine when we arrived. Then plates of pate de campagne arrived with two mustards, cornichons, onions and greens. After that came escargot and then moules et frites. All fantastic! Served with a WA chardonnay. Frisse salad with lardon and a nice little quail egg on top! Susan I thought of you and Russ!! Main was pheasant stuffed with something I haven't had a chance to look up yet. Served with gorgeous mashed potatoes and baby sauted carrots. Cotes du Rhone. Tarte tatin served with a nice dessert wine thats name is escaping me. If someone from PNW reads this maybe you can add it. Then came the signing of the books! Really, really, really fun!!! This is part of the Cooks and Books events held in Seattle. It is a great program!!

Thanks guys! We actually eat out on average once a week. This week there is quite a bit going on so it will be a total of 3 times out. Seattle does have such a variety of great restaurants. We have a hard time between going to our favorites and trying the new one's that constinatly crop up. The cups were a present from my husband when we were still dating. He knows how much I love espresso so when I still lived alone in an apartment he bought me a moka and these handpainted cups and saucers from my favorite espresso shop which also carries the ceramics. They are from Deruta in Italy and I love them!!!

Mornings at our house are pretty consistant during the week. We are lucky that we both work in the same area of town and have the same schedule so we carpool in. We always have espresso and a bite of breakfast standing up in our kitchen in the morning. My husband makes the espressos. We have been trying different types of coffees and grinds. Right now we are using Cafe Vita coffee which is a Seattle local roaster. We bought it from the espresso shop we go to on the weekends. It's called Perkengruven Dayne (the husband ) has been grinding the beans himself lately and it's been tasting great! This morning we were running a bit late thanks to a very fun eGullet event last night (details later) so we had our espresso with a bowl of Kellogg's Red Berries Special K. We LOVE this cereal!! MMMmmmmm.

Good morning!! So I'm pretty nervous to be blogging this week, it seems others have an effortless way of writing and I'm just not so sure that is the case with me. But I'm excited so I hope you enjoy!! I've just been on eGullet since March and am learning so much around the forums. The foodblogs have been so interesting to read that I hope there is something others will learn from mine. My husband and I live in Seattle, WA and we love to cook. We especially like to try to cook with what is locally available and in season. Obviously it's a bit more of a challlenge this time of year but we are still plugging along. We are still considered newly weds. Just celebrated our 1st year anniversary. I was lucky in that the first year of our marriage I didn't have to work. I had a whole year to really work on my cooking. I loved starting dinner at 2pm and cooking multiple couses for dinner. So 1950's maybe but such a great feeling to have your love come home and be so excited for dinner! So now we both are working full time and the all day cooking is reserved for weekends. We still have great dinners every night we are at home though. This week will be a mix of me cooking at home, menu planning, shopping our local markets and a bit of dining out! Wendy

Quail eggs! how fun!!! When hubby and I were in Spain last July we had pintxos (tapas) - little crostini with a piece of sliced chorizo on top and a fried quail egg on that! Oh they were so cute and sooooo good!

Is that the 'yellow lable'? while in Spain I would have grand marnier after dinner and they would ask if I wanted red or yellow lable.

For apps we had some left over mushroom and cheese crostini I made for a party the night before. Doesn't look so great but shitake, chanterelles and oyster mushrooms, with rosemary and garlic, fontina and parm. Very tasty! Kirs for sipping. Then one of our favorite Sunday dinners, moules et frites!! The dinner table The mussels cooked in my new Staub mussel pot that my husband bought us recently. The little cage holds the mussels away from the juice so you can dip to your heart's content. I call it the little pool of goodness! My husband makes the fries, these were his best yet. He has gotten this down! Homemade frite sauce also! Served with a nice Pouilly Fuisse

Great job! Congrats!! I think a bigger problem than the bubbly in the fridge is why do you have friends who ditch when bubbly is chilled?? I know peolple that even if they didn't like me would show up for a glass of the good stuff!!! ok, next time you need to celebrate with champagne, do it in Seattle! I'll give you directions to the house!

If it is a small amount (1c. or less) I use the wine we will be drinking with dinner. If it is Beef Bourganione (sp) then I will buy a few bottles of $8-10 French Burgundy- like Joesph Drouhin or similar. I would never cook with a wine that had been open too long, wasn't good for drinking or labled 'cooking' wine. The flavors concentrate when you cook with alcohol and I certainly don't want bad concentrated flavors in my food!

Susan do you ever keep the egg whites? We keep ours and then on the weekends add them to whole eggs for scrambles or omelettes.

Ok, so I don't eat eggs everyday!!! This morning in memory of our month in Spain last summer: Chocolate con Churros!!! Oh yeah!!! These bring back memories. Thick hot chocolate, hot yummy churros right out of the fryer!!

At the market today Taylor Shellfish said that the market on Capitol Hill is going to be open year around and he will be there Saturdays after the UDist. is over lots of apple ciders today, squash, apples, pears. Thanks for shopping with us MsRamsey! That was fun!!

Susan, what a great dinner you had last night! How fun and festive. We make panini the same way as you do. We love mojitos. One thing Ihave started doing which everyone seems to love is put a piece of fresh sugar cane in the drink as a stirrer. You can stir and chew on it which is tasty. We copied that from a restaurant here in Seattle.

Looks like Eunny and I were on the same egg noodle kick! Veal marsala with apples, egg noodles with butter and many different herbs!! Served with a nice Bordeaux Cheese course- baked pecorino with wildflower honey and asian pears

Last night on Jeopardy there was a question: noodles, egg, parm, pancetta and cream.....the answer Carbonara. But then I said "everyone said no cream!!"

Excellent, I will call and see if they can seat us together if you'd like! That would be fun PM me with your reservation name and I'll call Rachel or John tomorrow. We do and I can't wait either!!!!