eG Foodblog: Ling & HhLodesign - The cool kids at Belltown Lofts

[GourmetLight$]

Thanks so much for blogging this week! Such a treat since I live here and was fortunate to have met you both (on the night of your 1st date, and believe me, I won't forget!). You've shared such joy and love of food and the wonderful bounty of wonderful raw ingredients, coffee and restaurants that Seattle has to offer. It's been a jewel of a food blog!

Cheers,

[racheld]

However...today, the Scrabble gods were with me. Check out the scores--

(BTW--we know now that "hed" isn't a word, but I bluffed my way through that one.  )

But you coulda just used the "e" from "hed" and gone for "zein" and "el" for 25 and stayed legal, plus you'd get another food product in there.

All this dining and fun and then one of my favorite games!!

This has just been too much.

Edited September 3, 2006 by racheld (log)

[CanadianBakin']

Thanks so much for all the time and effort you put into your blog. This is the very first one I've followed from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Daniel]

1)The claw!!! Nobody escapes the claw! 2) I must break you.. 3) I think he was the older brother in Back to the Future slowly getting erased..

By the way, whats zed and hed all about.. I played scrabble for the first time tonight completely seperate of your blog...That shite wouldnt fly in the game I played tonight,...

You guys are the best, thanks for an awesome blog.

Edited September 3, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[Chufi]

Lorna & Henry,

this has been such a lovely week. And is has coincided so nicely with my trip to Seattle (we leave tomorrow!) and thus contributed in a wonderful way to my travel-excitement!

We had a nice relaxing day today. After coffee and Scrabble, we took a walk down to the Pike Place Market to pick up some picnic supplies.

We stopped at one of our favorite places. La Buona Tavola, they carry all things truffle:

←

I need to get to that place! Is it in Pike Place market? I'm gonna stuff my suitcase with "all things truffle"!

[Chufi]

No we didn't sit here...we're not that corny.  But you gotta admit it's cute! 

←

looks like that love grotto is designed for a threesome!

Edited September 3, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Pan]

wonderful, wonderful blog. (and the same to all others who have undertaken to blog)...

you guys eat like i wish i had time to eat!! and unfortunately, i'm sure no one is interested in this is what i cooked for my toddler today blog.[...]

←

Actually, I think many of us would be interested, and it's far from unprecedented to include toddlers in eGullet foodblogs.

Lorna and Henry, this was one of the best and most enjoyable foodblogs ever. Thank you for being so generous with your time and sharing so much with all of us.

P.S. "Zed" is what most of the English-speaking world calls the letter "Z." As for "hed," contractions aren't permitted in Scrabble, are they? Because the word "he'd" does exist.

[MarketStEl]

Thank you both! This has been a wonderful blog. I see that my choice of Seattle as a reference in my own earlier blog (for cities whose food cultures are a unique confluence of location and time) was a good one.

BTW, on the way back from the H-Mart at 69th Street yesterday, I stopped into DiBruno's and bought some duck fat. At $9 for 7 ounces, I probably won't be buying it that often, but I'm eager to experiment with it now that I have some. I'll keep you all posted on what I do.

And "hed" is a word--within the newspaper trade. It's short for "headline." Then again, newspaper editors also have an unusual spelling for "lead (paragraph)": "lede." I don't think that last term is in the Scrabble dictionary either.

[sadie_siamesecat]

Lurker delurking for a moment to tell you how much I've enjoyed your blog! I'm especially impressed that cooking together in smaller-than-ideal circumstances AND spending an unusually long period of time together did not lead to blows! Congrats on what looked like a really fun week.

Off to search for Chinese long beans...

[Dianne]

I usually lurk; although I love the blogs; just don't get around to saying thank you. But this has been such an excellent week that I had to chime in. Thanks for sharing your lives, one of your wonderful cities, and taking the time.

Dianne.

[SMW]

I've really enjoyed this blog all week, thanks for the much needed, and very enjoyable break from moving and unpacking!

The contrast in design at La Buona Tavola after El Diablo made me think to myself - I bet Henry likes this place a lot more. A nice surprise to find out he designed it!

[Foodie-Girl]

Henry and Lorna, many thanks for putting so much thought into your blog...it was wonderfully engaging from start to finish!

Oh and I gained about 4 pounds just READING what you ate....

Char

alias Foodie-Girl/Charcoop

[I_call_the_duck]

I loved how one of you managed to get "aiolis" in there!

However...today, the Scrabble gods were with me. Check out the scores--

←

Lorna & Henry,

Thank you for sharing a week with us. I had so much fun, and hope we get to meet one day in real life.

Edited September 3, 2006 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[jayhay]

Thanks to both of you, Lorna & Henry, looking forward to the next installment!

I looked up your previous blog Lorna, & I'd say your cupboards are a little better stocked these days.....

...........................................

Ling wrote:

"I'm still full from last night's dinner, but here's a look in my pantry/fridge:

-7 cans of tuna (no-name brand, 87 cents a can)

-1 can of sliced mushrooms (generic brand that I bought at 4 cans for a dollar)

-a few eggs

-1 tired-looking piece (head?) of brocolli

-a couple packages of low-calorie jello (generic brand, on sale at 6 boxes for a dollar)

-some Diet Pepsi

-1 can of sardines in tomato sauce (79 cents a can)

-3 or 4 frozen dinners (on sale at Safeway...these have been sitting in the freezer for months!)

-1 jar of Healthy Choice tomato sauce (also bought on sale)

Sadly, that's about it."

[Ling]

^Those were my (very) poor university days...!

I_call_the_duck: We frequently use food words when we play. Last week, I used the word "cep" and Henry didn't believe me when I said it was a word.

Hence my non challenge on the word "hed" I got burned before. For the record, we use the 4th edition Scrabble Players Dictionary. It includes words like "za" meaning pizza.

Edited September 3, 2006 by Ling (log)

[gus_tatory]

We began our day with a trip to the market; here are some pictures...

←

i'm only on page three of this blog, and i am enamoured of this peach photo--i think i may make it my desktop if you guys are okay with that.

and which red velvet cake recipe did you use--the Recipe Gullet one by Jaymes, or another? can't wait to continue reading...

[Laurie H.]

I usually lurk; although I love the blogs; just don't get around to saying thank you. But this has been such an excellent week that I had to chime in. Thanks for sharing your lives, one of your wonderful cities, and taking the time.

Dianne.

←

Lorna and Henry --

It looks like you've inspired a number of us to de-lurk! I think that it's fitting to use my first EG post to thank you both for taking me along with you this week. It was a great read.

Lorna, for coffee have you tried Victorola (411 15th Ave E) or Cafe Fiore (224 W Galer St)? I like them both for different reasons. I'm also not a big Top Pot fan, they're ok but I prefer Mighty O donuts. Mighty O (2110 N 55th St) is across the street from Zoka, or you can try one at Cafe Fiore.

Laurie

[H. du Bois]

Thank you for the pleasure of your company this week!

[Nina C.]

Thank you so much for this blog - it might just be my favorite food blog ever. I know food blogs are good when they've gotten me checking airline prices.

[rjwong]

We thoroughly enjoyed our week together. Not only did we have some really great food, but this is the longest continuous length of time we've spent together (8 days!) and we are happy that we shared it with so many of you.

There are steps one can take to make the continuous length of time we've spent together even longer ...

Thanks to everyone who commented and asked questions. You made our blog so much more interesting. We know we'll have many more culinary adventures to come, and hope that you'll be a part of that too.

I think you two can take this show on the road. It can be called: Ling & Lo.

Ling & Lo in Las Vegas. Ling & Lo in Los Angeles. Ling & Lo in Lyons. The possibilities are endless. What do you think??

We feel fortunate to have met so many EGers in real life, like the ones we had dinner with at foodiegirl's tapas party, to heyjude and her amazing cookbook collection, and most recently, dandelion.

I feel the same way when I met you two in person for lunch in LA. I hope another opportunity presents itself sometime soon.

So now it's time to say goodbye, and thank-you once again for reading!

Lorna & Henry, once again, Doh jeh, doh jeh. Shieh-shieh. Thank you.

[Becca Porter]

actually, from what i understand, grits (or the corn/hominy used to make grits) are treated with lye before being dried and ground...i don't think polenta is treated the same way.  anyone else?

The sad reality is that common grits (i.e., Quaker Grits) are not made from hominy. It's nothing more than coarse white cornmeal. You have to get the fancy stuff if you want hominy.

←

Blasphemy!

I shuddered at the thought of this. I went and checked my Quaker and Aunt Jemima Grits packages. They both list hominy grits in their ingredient lists.

[Ling]

i'm only on page three of this blog, and i am enamoured of this peach photo--i think i may make it my desktop if you guys are okay with that.

and which red velvet cake recipe did you use--the Recipe Gullet one by Jaymes, or another? can't wait to continue reading...

←

I feel privileged that you think that photo is nice enough for your desktop! Please go ahead and use it.

I Photoshopped the picture to make it a little brighter. I think it looks a little better now.

I used Jaymes's recipe for the Red Velvet cake, with the following adjustments:

-increase by 1 tbsp cocoa

-lower amount of oil to 1 3/4 cup

-decrease sugar in cake to 1 1/2 cup

-when the cakes come out of the oven, wrap them in plastic wrap to "steam" them for a bit...(as I mentioned before, technique comes from a Scott Wooley recipe)

For the icing, I used:

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 lb cream cheese

8 oz softened unsalted butter

bit of vanilla

Edited September 3, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

Lorna, for coffee have you tried Victorola (411 15th Ave E) or Cafe Fiore (224 W Galer St)? I like them both for different reasons. I'm also not a big Top Pot fan, they're ok but I prefer Mighty O donuts. Mighty O (2110 N 55th St) is across the street from Zoka, or you can try one at Cafe Fiore.

Laurie

←

I hven't been to Victorola, but I had Victorola beans this week at a coffee shop near Columbia City bakery. (It is almost kitty corner to Columbia City bakery). I didn't like the coffee there, probably because she only used 2 shots in a big cup of hot water, so the flavour was way too mild. I'll have to try Victorola again. And I've not been to Cafe Fiore yet--next time, when I'm in town! Thanks!

I see Mighty O when we go to Zoka. I've heard mixed reviews...actually, one very negative review of their chocolate donut, but I'll have to give their plain doughnuts a try if you like them.

[Eden]

No we didn't sit here...we're not that corny.  But you gotta admit it's cute! 

←

looks like that love grotto is designed for a threesome!

←

Last time I was there it housed a foursome

Gotta disagree with Henry here, I love the design of El Diablo. It's funny & funky & fabulously colorful. (plus having good drinks) If it was more convenient to Ballard it would be my go-to cafe.

Fun blog guys, you deserve a rest after all this work for us!

[Abra]

Next time you're at El Diablo, try the Cortadito. It's a very tasty little cup.

Great job, guys. I think "the Ling and Lo show" is a perfect moniker, and you did us all proud with it!