Book Up the Calendar

Ten things keeping me busy and entertained:

1. FareStart on Thursday night was one of the later ones we have had.  Mussels and clams, lobster mushrooms, braised short ribs on cheesy kale polenta, and poached pears filled us up.
2. Friday night IN with the boy.  We were drained from the week so we spent the night making dinner of Greek turkey meatballs with rattatouille, ate by the fire and watched TV.
3. Gratitude dinner party by the FareStart director for all of the regular guest chef night volunteers, meaning a night of hanging out with my favorite people.  Eric treated us to 5 star dinner at his awesome house in Falls City (very secluded and a good 35 minute drive from Seattle).  I mean, him and his wife really pulled out all of the stops for us with freely flowing wine, a full appetizer spread of cheese, fruits, homemade beer bread and foccacia, amazing heirloom tomatoes and pesto, homemade hummus and cucumbers, salamis, and spiced nuts.  And that wasn’t even dinner so I was stuffed before we got to the main course which featured three proteins; stuffed roasted pork loin, roasted chicken, and salmon with lobster mushrooms, then quinoa, sautéed corn, salad, and roasted cauliflower.  For dessert he made us coffee and apple crostadas while we ate in their basement wine cellar.  Ah-mazing!
4. Sunday morning slow down at home with theSeahawks and an intermission featuring pumpkin pancakes made by boy and requested by girl.

   

5. Spent the day at Green Lake with Mikayla up from Portland before heading to Polly’s girls concert at UW.
6. Volunteering at the FareStart auction/gala as an auction runner.  Held at the Convention Center they raised over $1M for a 2nd year in a row.  They treated us to a great dinner buffet before the gala began and I got to hang with my friend Nikki.
7. Monday night excursion to Barking Frog in Woodinville for Seattle Restaurant Week.  We got 3 courses for $30 at a restaurant that normally prices their entrees at $38.  We also opted for the three course wine pairing for $18 each.  Both were a great value.  Great dinner!  I had the beet salad with goat cheese dressing, frisee and pistachios and Bryan tried the apple parsnip soup with cocoa nip and arugula.  Both were great as was the amuse bouche, rosemary bread with sun-dried tomato and caper compote to start and the local Chardonnay.  For main courses I chose the seared steelhead with spaghetti squash, kale, butternut squash puree, spiced carrot sauce and Bryan opted for the hangar steak with marble potato, braised root vegetables and red wine huckleberry sauce.  This was paired with the Barbara wine that we both really liked.  My entrée was soooooooooo good.  The puree and onions gave it a very sweet taste but the spiced carrot balanced it all out perfectly.  Bryan was also very happy with the steak, perfectly cooked and a great sauce to go with it.  For our desserts we shared the double chocolate bread pudding with Bailey’s cream and espresso ganache and the bourbon pecan pie with Chantilly, anglaise, and candied pecans.  We were brought out a Spanish cava with our dessert course.  All in all I absolutely love my meal and thought we got a really good deal for Restaurant Week.  I selected well!
8. Had a great dinner on Tuesday night and remade that apple cider glazed pork tenderloin.

   

9. Got to a barre class early Tuesday morning and a yoga Wednesday morning.
10. Free movie screening of Birdman with Polly…crazy movie!

Chelsea