Getting Excited for Greece!

Sure, I'll have a fresh new ring on my finger and a last name I don't know how to spell, but the most exciting thing about the next two weeks is I'll be back in Greece, eating the best food on earth.  My past trips have all been at the height of the tourist season in summer, so I'm hopeful there is still a bounty of octopus and squid in October!

Fiesta Time!

To kick off my amazing Seattle weekend with the girls, Sherry hosted a fiesta on her fab "new" deck.  I couldn't believe how lucky we got with the weather—sitting outside all afternoon across the street from Greenlake, sipping margs and powering through months of much-needed girltalk catch-up.

She began with homemade shrimp ceviche loaded with spicy onions, jalapeno, tomato and bell pepper.  If this wasn't impressive enough, Melissa chimed in with her now-famous hummole (guacamole hummus!)  By dinnertime, I was expecting simplicity given the obvious trouble of the ceviche, but it only got better!  Tamales FROM SCRATCH!!  Amazing and so delicious with pork, potato and the creamiest cornmeal.

The piece de resistance was a chipotle brownie with basil-infused mango sorbet.  Sherry, you've outdone yourself.

Seattle Wedding Shower

Since the most amazing women in my life are spread out all over the world, my mom and my aunt hatched a plan to host a few of them in Seattle last month.  Wendy sent out the most adorable invitations, enticing guests to celebrate not just my upcoming wedding but to do it with my favorite kitchen color: red!  As you must have guess by now, everything we registered for is food-related, whether for entertaining or for cooking.  Too fun!

Three of my four aunts were on hand, as well as my cousins and bridesmaids (all except my maid of honor in London, but we'll get there soon enough).  Wendy put together a gorgeous spread of spinach-bacon quiche, fruit salad, tomato salad, cheese (obvi) and cupcakes.  There's nothing more comforting than warm quiche for a late brunch.  Pair it with a coffee and glass of Walla Walla white wine and I'll be happy as a clam!  She did a really nice job with the presentation too, tomato slices roasted on top and a flaky, just-made crust.

The cupcakes were a different story.  I'm not usually a fan of sweets, but the frosting was lavender-flavored, and they were from Cupcake Royale so I had to give them a try.  Having been one of those enticed by the adorable ceramic pots of "cooking lavender" at Williams Sonoma, I've been constantly trying to find the right place to use it.  I've added to a quiche with herbs de Provence, coq au vin, all those funky French dishes in which flavors can be distracting from the ultimate goal.  So while I have all kinds of hopes for this floral "herb," I've yet to experience its mastery.  Until the shower!  The frosting was unreal, a sort of gentle lavender flavor with crunches of candied lavender seeds—just enough to make you hope you get one in the next bite but not enough to overpower.  Done right.

Another bonus

My obsession with salt comes to a head with two things: cheez-its and jerky.  I will eat any meat that has been dehydrated to the root of its salty goodness.  Another bonus of John's trip to Alaska?  Salmon jerky!  Really fishy stuff.  But just the right amount of smoky and spicy.

Payback is a... Halibut?

Usually, payback is a bad thing, commonly referred to as a B and not in the endearing (I hope?) way my friends refer to me.

In this case, however, my payback for giving John a flight to Alaska for 10 days to visit Drue is an endless supply of the freshest, most delectable smoked salmon!  In just over a week, the man caught over 100 lbs of halibut and salmon, which means that annoying, top-loading extra freezer in our kitchen is finally full of something I can't wait to thaw!

Look at my impressive husband-to-be! (if you're impressed by this sort of thing, which I guess I am, even though I have no idea how they got a stick through 6 salmon or whose idea it was to put a stick through the gills of these fish)

We've been eating smoked salmon with nearly every weekend bagel, savoring the texture and barely-there fishiness I've never experience with store-bought lox.  The halibut—impressively thick steaks so fresh it's nearly impossible to overcook them to dryness—have provided endless opportunities for new recipes.  We've made baked halibut with blue cheese cream sauce (a John concoction), grilled halibut with chipotle lime butter (low-calorie Ellen option), lemon and red onion pan-seared halibut, even white wine and mushroom halibut with fingerling potatoes!  I can't get enough of it.

Payback is awesome.  Where will I send John next?!

Bachelorette Dinner

Most girls plan a night of partying and drinking—my bridesmaids knew me well enough to know what I really wanted: amazing food!  They took me to Toulouse Petit, a new restaurant in Seattle, well, new enough to be new to an out-of-towner.  Atmosphere was totally conducive to a fab girls night out: buzz of conversation without being too loud, fun music (Journey!) even candlelight to put us in the best light.

I somehow convinced them to order a bowl of clams dripping with butter and garlic.  They must have agreed we didn't need to worry about our breath tonight!  A side of frites with aioli was the perfect accoutrement and what crispy, flavorful fries they were.  We attempted to soak up the remaining white wine, garlic, butter deliciousness from the clams with bread but our overeager waiter scooped it right out from under our dipping fingers.

I went for some fresh halibut for my main, delivered in a light lemon sauce with roasted cherry tomatoes, cippolini onions and al dente artichoke hearts.  This paired quite well with my champagne and cucumber-infused vodka martini, if I do say so myself.

By the time we departed, I was feeling light as air yet happily satiated.  I was actually really impressed with how good all of our food was considering the atmosphere is clearly the draw here.  It was even reasonably priced, so it's definitely recommended and a spot I'll look forward to coming back to for happy hour when the New Orleans French menu gets even more exotic!