june 9, 2013 dinner

belated dinner celebration for my dad's 60th: lamb/beef meatballs over cauliflower rice (dusted with chopped pistachios), alongside a crisp spring salad of lettuce, radishes, and avocado. no complaints here!

may 18, 2013 dinner

we picked up a few cuts of meat from three sisters farm on whidbey island last weekend, and decided to try the tri-tips with mel's insanely delicious moroccan dipping sauce, as well as brussels wrapped in foil in the campfire. the perfect meal!

august 6, 2012 dinner

 clockwise from top: takoyaki (filled with wheat and soy and sugar, oh my/oh well), saba shioyaki (salt-grilled mackerel, one of my comfort foods!) and renkon (lotus root) cooked in butter. what's the occasion? an old friend i hadn't seen in over ten years is in town. she's from chicago, and i'm from seattle, but we became friends when we both lived in japan, i in hiroshima, her in kure, about 15 miles away. (coincidentally, today is the 67th anniversary of the bombing of hiroshima.) a group of us met up at maekawa bar in the international district and ordered a bunch of small plates to share.

this was so obscenely delicious it made me want to dance down the street. it's like okonomiyaki without the batter and noodles and cabbage, just pork wrapped up in an omelet, drizzled with the same tangy, sweet sauce and mayo.

some gyutan (grilled beef tongue) was also consumed, which i quite enjoyed. it was sliced really thinly, and flavored sparely with salt and pepper. i did not get a good photo of it, probably because i ate it too fast. all in all, it was great catching up while enjoying some izakaya treats.



july 28, 2012 dinner

oysters on the grill! dinner at my dad and stepmom's, out on their deck.

a pretty plateful of sirloin steak, lamb heart, japanese eggplant, caulliflower, mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes and blueberries. the veggies were basted in garlic oil and i wanted more of them. i only had a nibble of the heart (not feeling lamby) and half the steak.

saved room for my stepmom's homemade blueberry ice cream, made with fresh blueberries, coconut and rice milk. perfect!



july 20, 2012 dinner

attended a goodbye potluck barbeque at ella bailey park in magnolia. it was a nice seattle summer evening, sunny and breezy, with the rain clouds from the morning dissipating. the view from this park is amazing - you can see elliott bay, downtown seattle, west seattle, and queen anne. the way it's situated on a grassy hill with its panorama and houses on hills reminds me of parks in san francisco. anyways, i had a delicious meal of a grass-fed beef burger, topped with garlicky guacamole, and a side salad with bell pepper, avocado, and some of the leftover smoked salmon from yesterday shredded on top.

addison's fancy hat looks on.



july 14, 2012 dinner

we cooked up some chioggia beets (aka candy-striped beets) in aluminum foil, with a drizzle of oil, some kosher salt, and some quality campfire coal time.

beef tri-tip sirloin, pepper and onion kabobs, in a lime and basil marinade (from mark's daily apple) was also heartily consumed.

nesting boxes for pigeon guillemots on the pier.

july 14, 2012 breakfast

we left early (our friends snoozing at our place, with the extra key and a fresh pot of coffee), and boarded the ferry to bainbridge island. i'd been eyeing these primal pacs for a couple of months at ken's market, and finally decided that a ferry ride breakfast was as good a time as any to give one a go. the verdict: quite tasty and a good all-in-one meal. grass-fed beef jerky, dried mango and cranberries, marcona almonds and a couple of macadamia nuts. it's so hard to find jerky without nitrates, corn syrup solids, soy sauce, etc. so that was worth the price of admission right there. ($3.99 in case you're curious.)

july 7, 2012 dinner

 our project was widening the elk bench trail, which was little more than its namesake when we started, hardly more than a deerpath in places, and pretty overgrown. by the time we finished, our team of 8 had hacked trail to a width of at least two feet for almost half a mile. working in the heat does funny things to your appetite. even though i couldn't seem to drink enough water, i wasn't hungry until around 8pm, and then i was famished!

good thing we had coleslaw on hand! in the background is mt. st. helens, as well as the coldwater visitor center, which is re-opening soon after losing its funding in 2007. the road to it has been closed since then, which is why the trail we were rebuilding had seen little use in recent years.

kabobs! beef sirloin cubes marinated in olive oil, garlic, paprika, lime juice, salt and pepper, along with red and green bells and onion..

we retired early to our camp. there was a particularly scenic meadow designated for volunteers to camp in, and we picked a pretty good spot, i think! that's coldwater lake below, where we'll be kayaking tomorrow.

june 10, 2012 brunch

this sunday, we attended a vietnamese family's baby shower. i brought an empty stomach with me, and was glad i did. the salad on the right is goi du du tom made of green papaya noodles, shrimp, basil, mint, cilantro, carrot, and nuoc cham. the eggy looking things on the left are actually made of pounded rice with sweet mung bean paste yolks. 

and then there was this soup. i was pretty well stuffed already, but how can you say no to the proud grandmother's homemade bun bo hue, which i'd never had before. it's similar to pho, but with vermicelli noodles and a richer broth. it was a real treat.

june 9, 2012 dinner

belated birthday dinner for my dad, eaten on his new deck. my sister tossed a salad of red leaf lettuce, spinach, red and yellow tomatoes, and pears with a homemade dressing of balsalmic, olive oil, shallot and spices.

we brought a tri-tip sirloin roast, with slivers of garlic under the surface, rubbed with paprika, salt and pepper, then stewed for seven hours in the slow cooker with sweet onions, rutabagas, carrots, green peppers, and beef broth. we served it atop a quick saute of turnips, courtesy of my sister. the meat was super fall-apart tender, and with the root vegetables, we were a couple spoons deep in comfort food on a cool june evening.